


Moose and Augie

by peacefulboo



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dogs, F/M, Kid Fic, Oral Sex, The fic equivalent to hot cocoa I hope, fluffy as fuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-08
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-08-29 19:22:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 37,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8502313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peacefulboo/pseuds/peacefulboo
Summary: AU. Oliver and Sara return from Lian Yu attached at the hip. They have an apartment together, they have a dog together, they even occasionally still sleep together. But now Sara has Amaya and believes it's beyond time for Oliver to start living in the world again. Enter a little girl with no sense of stranger danger, and her cute-as-fuck mother who just wants to give her daughter the world. Did I mention there's a dog?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is meant to be a balm during these fucked up days. Enjoy the fluff for what it is and if you dig it let me know?

On Mondays Sara and Oliver take Moose on a run through one of the larger parks in Starling City. It starts as a way to become reacquainted with society; with the sights and sounds and smells of the city without actually having to do much interacting. It’s a late October day and the leaves on most of the trees are in full color and it’s cold enough, and early enough in the season that very few people are out mid-morning. Sara knows that will change as the weather gets colder and people get used to it again, but for now they enjoy that there are fewer of the small crowds of kids and their caretakers to dodge. 

 

Or Moms for their friendly, curious-ass dog to scare. 

 

Moose is a 100-pound mastiff/Great Dane cross that kind of hates to run with them but wants to please his humans enough to go along with it. He’s a sweet dog, protective and loyal and calm and exactly what they needed when they were first rescued. To say he’s intimidating is to say that Siberia is cold, or space is pretty big. And when they take breaks, for his sake more than for their own, he loves to sniff around the kids and plop himself down in the middle of the hoards. The kids almost always love him. He’s sweet and snuffly and licks their hands and they giggle and a little bit of Sara and Oliver’s hearts crack at the joyful sound, despite their best intentions. 

 

Moms see the danger. They see a creature that they can’t control, that they don’t know. They see a huge being that can kill their kid in under 5 seconds. Their wariness doesn’t so much set Moose on edge as it makes him pouty. He really is a damn good dog. 

 

Today there’s only one kid at the clearing where they take their break.

 

And she plops down right next to Moose and hugs him. Her completely lack of nerves puts even Oliver and Sara on edge. She’s tiny, but is chattering a mile-a-minute with a vocabulary that Sara’s pretty sure means that she’s at least 4 or 5. 

 

“Augie!” a harried, dark-haired woman approaches with a sigh. She doesn’t seem angry, just resigned. Sara gathers this has definitely happened before. 

 

Oliver’s eyes are locked on the woman’s face and Sara smiles at the look on his face. He seems completely fascinated. Sara looks back at her and notes that she really is beautiful in a cute kind of way. Her face is bright with sea blue eyes, pink lips, and high cheeks that are flushed with the cold. Her curly dark hair is heavily streaked with both blonde and blue highlights. 

 

Sara just smirks as she watches her best friend become smitten in the course of a heart-beat. When she can tell that Oliver’s not going to say anything she starts with, “She’s adorable and Moose is halfway in love with her already.”

 

The dog has rolled over onto his side and is basking in the love the little girl is bestowing on him. On Augie’s part, she’s draped herself over his side and scratching her small hands up and down his neck and belly. 

 

“She gets like this. She kinda hates most people, but put a dog in front of her and she turns into a cuddle demon,” the woman says, then holds out a hand in introduction, “I’m Felicity and this little cuddle bug is Augie.” she smiles affectionately at the little girl as Sara takes her hand. 

 

“Sara,” she replies, and does her best to hide her surprise. She was thinking the woman was was the nanny or sister, she didn’t look like she could be older than 22 or maybe 24. But when Sara looks more carefully, she can see the lines around the young woman’s eyes, the dark circles of exhaustion under them that she’s done a decent job covering up.

 

Oliver immediately deflates at the news and Sara puts a steadying hand on his bicep in comfort. He was smitten alright. 

 

He shakes himself and offers his hand next. “Oliver Queen,” he says, his voice low and resigned. 

 

“Oh. Yeah. You definitely are Oliver Queen,” the woman’s eyes go wide and she continues, “And that would make you Sara Lance. Wow.”

 

It’s an awkward moment but this particular scenario happens frequently enough that they don’t let it get to them. 

 

“Yup,” is all Sara replies. 

 

“Oh. Damn. Sorry,” the red of Felicity’s already cold-flushed cheeks deepens. “That was rude. Wow. Very rude. I’m so sorry.” She cringes and takes a deep breath. 

 

“Don’t worry about it. It happens,” Oliver’s voice is reassuring and kind. Damn he has it bad. 

 

“No. It’s not cool to act like I know who you are just because you’ve made the news a...few dozen times. I know,” she pauses for deep breath before starting over, “It’s just...I work for you!” Felicity finishes. 

 

When Oliver just gives her a confused look Sara supplies, “At Queen Consolidated?” 

 

Felicity points at Sara and nods, “Yes! So, I guess not for you, you. But for you...For your mother. And Step-Father, who is awesome, by the way. He’s an amazing boss.”

 

“Glad to hear it,” Oliver replies. It’s clipped and brittle and Sara can tell that he’s come to the end of whatever rope he has when it comes to this outing and decides it’s time to extricate them from the conversation. 

 

Except Felicity continues. 

 

“He’s gone above and beyond the call of good boss. When Augie and I first moved here I had the damndest time setting up childcare since it’s just me here and I had, like zero money before I moved out here, and he set it up so I could work from home and then changed the rules so that lower tier employees like me can get a discount at the QC daycare. Said that employees who don’t have to worry about that kind of thing do better work, which was surprising. And true. There’s research and everything.”

 

“So it’s just you and her?” Oliver squeaks out. Literally squeaks and Sara has to suppress a snort. Of course that’s what he takes from that speech. 

 

“Oh. Yep,” Felicity says, smiling softly down at her daughter who is now snuggling deeper into the dog’s side and yawning with her eyes drifting shut. “Yeah. Just us.”

 

“She’s beautiful. And a riot,” Sara tells her because Oliver just keeps looking back and forth between the two like his eyes can’t settle on one sweet face or the other. 

 

“She wants a dog so bad, but we live in a pretty tiny townhouse and neither of us are interested in a small dog. She loves the big ones,” Felicity shrugs then takes one more look at her daughter before saying, “We should really go. She had a hard time sleeping last night and she’s falling asleep. She’s not going to want to walk home as it is.”

 

“Of course,” Sara says, pulling on Moose’s leash. He just picks his head up, looks at Sara, and then nuzzles at Augie’s cheek as if to say, _This tiny human has me pinned. Whatever shall I do._

 

Of course Oliver, king of smooth, blurts out, “She can borrow Moose.”

 

“What?” Felicity and Sara ask at the same time. 

 

“Look at them,” he points in exasperation. “She can...borrow him. Whenever she wants.” 

 

“Oh,” Felicity says in surprise.

 

Sara doesn’t manage to suppress the snort this time. “Oh Lord,” is all she says. 

 

“Wow. No,” Felicity starts before looking down and seeing that her daughter, the one who basically never sleeps, is down for the count. “Or, I dunno.”

 

Sara watches Felicity look between the pair snoozing on the ground and Oliver.

 

Sara herself looks down at Moose and Augie and sighs. 

 

“Yeah. She can borrow Moose. Cause that level of cute is pretty much impossible to ignore,” Sara agrees. She isn’t entirely sure if she’s talking about Moose and Augie or Oliver and his smittenness. Maybe if they spend more time together he can finally get some semblance of a life. 

 

“Okay. Yeah. That’d be amazing,” Felicity agrees. “I usually go into the office in the afternoons so mornings work better. We tend to stick to the smaller park near the office, but we can come here if that’s needed.”

 

“Whichever is fine,” Oliver says. “You mean the park on Morris and Salinger?”

 

“That’s the one. They have those spring bouncy animals with those ancient coils underneath them. Augie loves the duck,” Felicity tells him. 

 

“That was my sister’s favorite, too,” Oliver replies. “They’re still there?”

 

“Yeah. They’re honestly kind of terrifying because I can tell how old they are, but so far they seem to be holding up pretty well.”

 

They exchange phone numbers and set up a time to meet the next morning. And then it’s time to wake up the little girl, which is pretty much the saddest sweet thing Sara has ever seen. The tears, which she usually finds exasperating on a child, are quiet and kind of adorble, and one look at Oliver and Sara knows that he’s fucking gone. 

 

This is either going to be amazing or the most painful thing on the planet to watch unfold. 

 

“C’mon baby. We have to get going. Say bye,” Felicity coaxes. 

 

“Bye buddy. I hope I see you again some day,” Augie says quietly before bopping a kiss on the dog’s nose. 

 

Sara notes that Felicity doesn’t reassure the girl that she’ll see him tomorrow. She’s a good mom, Sara realizes, but one that’s learned the hard way that people don’t always come through. She’s not going to promise her daughter something that may not come true. 

 

“Let’s go get some lunch before daycare, Bub,” Felicity says to Augie before turning back to Sara and Oliver, “Tomorrow?” she asks, voice quiet enough that the little girl shouldn't be able hear it. There’s a vulnerability in her eyes that sets Sara back on her heals. 

 

“Yes. Definitely,” Oliver replies. 

 

And then Felicity and her daughter are walking off. 

 

“You are so screwed,” Sara says, bumping hard against his shoulder as he rolls his eyes and coaxes Moose into a steady jog. 

 

“Shut up,” he bites out. 

 

“What? She’s cute!” Sara encourages. “Adorable, even. You’ve never really gone in for adorable, but it could work.”

 

“I was just being nice,” Oliver defends. “The last thing on my mind is whether she’s adorable or not.”

 

“Oh you shut up now. That’s a bold face lie, Oliver Queen.” Sara sighs and frowns. He’s been fucked up for most of his adult life, but the Oliver that he’s become is kind and generous and skittish and so, so worried about hurting other people that he has a hard time bringing new people into his life. 

 

But Sara can hope that maybe this time, maybe he'll take the chance.

 

“Good lord, Ollie. What are you afraid of?” 

 

“You know what, Sara.”

 

And she does. 

 

“Welp, I have brunch with my Mom and Amaya tomorrow at 10 so you and Moose are on your own with all that sweetness.” 

 

Oliver swears under his breath, “Damnit Sara!”

 

“What! I just remembered,” she says with a shrug. She did not just remember. 

 

“I was kind of hoping you would take Moose tomorrow.”

 

“Oh, I’m aware. But no. That’s all on you, buddy,” Sara replies. “You’re the one that was all, “She can borrow our massive dog!” so you get to be the one to follow through.”

 

“Fuck,” Oliver grumbles. 

 

“It’s going to be great, Ollie.” They round the group of trees that are directly across from their apartment building and slow to a stroll. “She seems like a good egg.” 

 

“Yeah,” Oliver replies and Sara knows it’s time to let it go. He’ll come to grips with tomorrow in his own way and in his own time. She’s done what she can.


	2. Chapter 2

“Holy crap, Oliver,” Sara groans from her place by the door where she’s shrugging into her jacket. “I haven’t seen you this amped up since we’ve gotten back.”

 

She’s not wrong. Oliver hasn’t been able to stop pacing since he woke up. He’s got his jeans on, but hasn’t managed to get them buttoned yet, he’s got his shirt on but it’s still hanging open. Moose has mostly been curled up on the couch watching Oliver wander around the room, but occasionally he’s gotten up to butt up against Oliver’s hand. It works because each time Oliver stops and pets him, but once the dog returns to the couch, Oliver is back to roaming the living room. 

 

He knows it’s ridiculous, he does. But something about all of this feels very important. Like he’s on the cusp of something amazing. 

 

Which is baffling. It isn’t even like he’s the one who has the date. His dog does. 

 

“It would be fucked up if I texted her to cancel,” Oliver half asks, half says. He doesn’t even need Sara’s answer to know he’s right. 

 

“Uh, yeah. That’d be supremely fucked up. Don’t do that,” Sara says. “For God’s sake, Oliver, button your pants and shirt, put on a jacket, get Moose’s leash and get the hell out of here!”

 

Oliver looks up at the clock and sees that it’s fifteen til ten and instead of feeling the vague sense of dread and anxiety he’s had since agreeing to meet up with Felicity and Augie, he just feels relief. It’s time. The only thing left to do is go. 

 

He sighs deeply and starts buttoning his jeans. 

 

He can hear Sara huff out her own sigh across the room and looks up to see her striding toward him. He feels even more peace wash over him as his best friend pulls him down into a hug. 

 

“There’s nothing to this, Oliver. Nothing. You’re helping a little girl feel less alone. You’ve done that before. That’s all you’re doing now,” Sara says like it’s the smallest thing in the world. They both know it’s not. “You got this!” 

 

And with that, Sara presses a hard kiss to his cheek and rushes out the door. 

 

He manages to call out, “Good luck with your Mom and Amaya,” before she shuts the door. Mrs. Lance and Amaya should be best buddies, but they butt heads. A lot. It drives Sara a little batty and Oliver knows it sets her on edge that they don’t always get along. 

 

Oliver finishes getting dressed, gets Moose harnessed up, grabs his wallet and keys from where they’re resting on the bookshelf and then there’s nothing left to do but go. 

 

“It’s gonna be okay. Right, Moose?” He actually looks at the dog like he will respond. And he does with the biggest “seriously?” look that a dog can muster. “Right.”

 

Oliver and Sara’s apartment is only a few blocks from the park so they walk it. They’re going to be a few minutes late, but Oliver’s okay with that. He’s has never liked arriving anywhere first. Before Lian Yu it was about being the right kind of center of attention when he entered a room. Arriving on time or early may mean that you’re the only person there, which, sure, means you’re the center of the host’s attention, but Oliver craved the feeling he got when there were hundreds of other choices but he was the one people chose to look at, to flirt with, to kiss, to fuck. He loved the attention that meant someone else wasn’t picked. He loved winning. 

 

Now he arrives late so he can do his damndest to blend in. So he can fulfill his obligations without drawing so much attention. So he can slip in the back door, find his family or friends, shake the proper hands, say the proper words, but never have to spend much one on one time with anyone he doesn’t know. Hell, sometimes he does this when there’s a gathering at his Mom’s or at Laurel and Tommy’s when he knows every person there. 

 

That’s not gonna happen here, there’s no Sara this time to be his buffer, and he’d be lying if he said that didn’t make the hair on the back of his head stand on end. 

 

Moose starts pulling on the leash as they pass through the gates to the park and sure enough he’s tugging Oliver in the direction of the spring rides, and sure enough, Augie is giggling atop the duck. Oliver is almost bowled over by the memory that hits him at the sight. 

 

He can vividly recall his dad bringing Thea here and dragging Oliver along with them in one of his semi-yearly attempts to bond with his children. He can see Thea, her stringy, tangled, dark hair bouncing around her as she rode the faded yellow duck. 

 

The duck has been recently repainted, the yellow bright and only slightly chipped and Augie’s hair is curlier than Thea’s was. Today it’s pulled back in a wad at the crown of her head, wisps of hair flying around her face as she bounces back and forth and chitters away at her mother, who, to her credit, looks to be completely enthralled with whatever story her child is weaving. 

 

And then Felicity laughs. Not a small chuckle or a dainty giggle, but a full-on guffaw. Whatever Augie has told her has her laughing her heart out, a sound that moves from hearty, to cackling, to snorting, before it settles on wheezing as she coughs her way out of it. 

 

It should be unattractive and he should be rolling his eyes and maybe a little affronted at the lack of decorum but instead he feels himself smiling and shaking his head and maybe he feels a touch worried that she’s having trouble breathing. 

 

He reaches for his water bottle so he can offer it to her as he and Moose approach them, but it’s at that moment that Augie sees Moose, and Oliver will be damned if she doesn’t somehow just levitate off that duck and fly right to his dumb dog. His dog who is pulling on his harness with an intensity he rarely deigns to exert. 

 

“Moose. Halt,” he says, a little sharp and very firm. His dog halts and stands stock still, but Oliver can see he’s practically vibrating out of his skin with excitement as the little girl barrels toward them. 

 

“He’s here! Mama he’s really, really here!” Augie cries as she throws her arms around the dog. She sounds so full of disbelief and wonder, like she’s overwhelmed with the happiness of it all, that Oliver might feel a little choked up himself. 

 

What the fuck is wrong with him? When did he become this raw and gooey?

 

“He is, bub,” Felicity chokes out and the words start another coughing fit. 

 

Oliver practically shoves the bottle of water at the woman, encouraging, “Take some.” It comes out like more of an order than he intends and he cringes. 

 

Felicity takes a series of small sips and then some deep breaths, her coughing slowing to a few intentional smaller coughs in an attempt to try and clear her throat. 

 

“Thank you,” she croaks out, handing the bottle back to Oliver

 

“You’re welcome,” Oliver replies, “Maybe you should keep it for a bit. That was intense.”

 

Felicity cringes and pushes the bottle against Oliver’s hands. “I have a thermos full of coffee in my bag. I don’t want to take what’s left of yours.”

 

She sounds guarded and chagrined and immediately all Oliver wants to do is reassure that there’s no need to be. He takes the bottle back and slips it into his satchel anyway. 

 

“What did she say?” Oliver asks.

 

“Huh?” Felicity replies, seemingly taken aback by the topic shift. 

 

“Augie,” he cocks his head toward the little girl who is currently sprawled out on the ground next his dog, holding his face in her hands as she whispers something to him and accepts his licks to her face like they’re the best thing in the world. “When she made you laugh like that, what did she say?”

 

Felicity’s mouth opens in surprise, her pink lips forming a small ‘O’ before cringing and biting her lip. The chagrine is back. “She was just telling me a story,” she says, dismissal clear in her voice. 

 

“Must have been some story,” is all Oliver says before he lets it go. But it’s there. The longing to know how a little kid can tell an adult something so surprising and funny that she gets that response. 

 

“Yeah.”

 

They don’t say anything else for a few moments. Luckily Augie and Moose formed their mutual admiration society right in front of one of the newer wooden park benches, so Felicity and Oliver sit down, hunching down a little to fight off the cold breeze that has the dry, fallen leaves swirling in gentle eddies around the park. 

 

There are clouds today, but they’re high and thin in places so it’s surprisingly bright out. During the winter in Starling, that’s basically the best you can ask for. Still, he can’t help but feel bad for Felicity as he watches her out of the corner of his eye. She’s curled in on herself, her beanie pulled low over her ears, her gloved hands pulled up into her sleeves, and her nose bright red, from both the cold and her laughing/coughing fit earlier. 

 

“Is it bad if I say I’m jealous of her?” Felicity asks, voice full of snark even as she shivers. 

 

“I don’t think so?” Oliver replies a little unsure of her meaning. 

 

“Look at her. She’s curled up to that giant heater. He looks so warm!” 

 

Oliver huffs out a laugh at that. “He is. It is kind of nice when it’s cold out. We would have killed for...” he breaks off shaking his head. Wow. Did he really almost talk about that time? Huh. “Yeah, he’s great in the winter. In the summer he’s a nightmare, though.”

 

If Felicity notices his stutter she lets it pass, “Since I’m cold in the summer, too, I think I’d be okay.” Her gaze doesn’t leave Augie as she continues, “And to see that look of pure fucking joy on her face? I’d put up with a lot for that.”

 

Oliver doesn’t blame her. He’s known Augie for 24 hours and he’d do a lot for her, too. 

 

Silence stretches out again, and while it isn’t completely tension filled, Oliver almost breaks it a few times. He doesn’t, because ultimately he can’t decide which question to ask first and he isn’t sure that it’s fair for him to ask any of them anyway. Oliver grew up very aware that any show of interest from him could spark expectation in those around him. If Oliver ever liked that undeserved power over people, he hates it now. The last thing Oliver wants is for others to count on him. Even if it’s just for conversation. 

 

He isn’t surprised, though, when she breaks the silence. 

 

“How long have you had him?”

 

It’s a simple question that breaks open the floodgates of conversation. 

 

“We’ve been back now for...three years. So just under that.” Again, there he goes with the honesty and extra information. 

 

“Was he a puppy when you got him?”

 

“Yeah. 10 weeks, I think? God that was a pain in the ass,” he replies. And it was. Getting Moose as a puppy was probably a bad plan when you look at all they had on their plates emotionally. But it helped him feel like he had a purpose. Something other than just getting through the next minute. He’s pretty sure Sara felt the same way. And it’s not like they were used to getting uninterrupted sleep. And they dealt with some pretty damn gross shit on the island, so dog shit and piss in the carpet was hardly the biggest disaster they’d faced. Still. It was a pretty bad plan on paper. 

 

“I bet. Augie was a good baby, the best I could hope for really, but it was never easy. I still don’t know what a full night’s sleep feels like and she’s five.” And the way she says it, like she’s not trying to compare her shit to his, just...commiserating, has him looking back a little in awe at how sweet she is. 

 

“A puppy was enough. I can’t imagine what having a baby must feel like. I’d be terrified,” he pauses and swallows, “All the time.”

 

“But you do know what _that_ feels like,” she whispers. 

 

“Yeah,” he replies, maybe a little louder than is appropriate, so he clears his throat awkwardly. 

 

“So how much does that monster eat?” she asks and Oliver accepts and is grateful for the subject change. 

 

“A lot,” he chuckles, “It’s a lot. He ate even more as a puppy but now he’s at 6 or so cups a day.”

 

“That’s a lot of dog crap,” Felicity blurts out. 

 

And Oliver laughs. A real laugh. 

 

“It’s a lot of dog crap, yeah,” he agrees with a smile. 

 

They talk a little more about the care of Moose before they fall into silence again. There are so many things he wants to ask her. It’s a feeling he hasn’t had in almost a decade, this genuine curiosity about someone; a deep need to _know_ someone new. 

 

So he asks one question. 

 

“Do you like your job?” It’s lame as far as questions go. He knows that, but it’s what he blurts out. It’s something he wants to know and he figures it’s a safe enough place to start.

 

“I really do. QC has been amazing to me and I’m very grateful. I feel so lucky and sometimes I wonder, why me, ya know? Why me and not some other single mom that’s struggling her ass off to feed her kid? Why did I win the single mom lottery? But I’m grateful,” she pauses and then says, “Yeah. I like my job.”

 

“What exactly do you do?” he asks, because he’s pretty sure she hasn’t said. 

 

“I’m a project manager for the T-Cell,” she tells him, her entire face lighting up at that information. She’s proud, and from what Oliver knows about the battery, she fucking should be. 

 

“That’s, wow. How old are you?” It comes out bewildered and incredulous and Oliver is so relieved when he gets a laugh in return. God he loves her laughs. 

 

“24. I know. It’s kind of fucked up and I get a lot of shit for it. But I’m doing amazing work for QC and Walter is one of those rare executives that does what he can to reward good work,” she shrugs. 

 

Oliver is thrown by her mix of confidence and self-awareness. He’s never used the word “delightful” to describe anything in his life, pre or post island, but this girl? She’s fucking delightful. 

 

“That’s amazing,” is all he says. 

 

“It is,” she agrees. “It’s hard. And I have a great team around me. Curtis, my right-hand guy and the lead engineer, is amazing and creative and so freakin’ smart. He helps a lot. And my mom has been awesome and has come up from Vegas a few times during crunch times to help with Augie.”

 

All of her answers lead to more and more questions. She’s from Vegas? What was that like? Where is Augie’s dad? How the hell did she get through school with a baby. He couldn’t even get through school with all the help that billions of dollars can buy him. Where did she go to school? 

 

He keeps the questions in, though. Felicity is honest and open, but he can tell she’s selectively guarded. If she wants him to know, he figures she’ll tell him. And he’s already decided to do what he can to be in a position where she can tell him those all those things eventually. 

 

The conversation lulls as they watch over Augie and Moose. There isn’t anyone in this section of the park so Oliver takes Moose off the leash and lets him roam around with the little girl. They are both delighted with the freedom if Moose’s low woofs and Augie's shrieks of laughter and high pitched chatter are any indication. 

 

Oliver keeps a steady eye on the two of them now that Moose is off the leash. His dog is sweet and gentle but he’s still gigantic and can be a bit clumsy. Oliver trusts his dog to be careful but he’s still going to watch. 

 

“So what about you,” Felicity asks. She shivers in the cold wind, so Oliver automatically moves so that his body can block what it can. 

 

“What about me?” he asks. He’s wary but he finds he wants to tell her things. He just doesn’t know why. 

 

“What do you do with your life, Oliver Queen?” she asks and coming from her there’s no pressure. A bit of a challenge maybe and a lot of open curiosity, but he doesn’t feel the pressure to answer correctly that he often feels around his family and others. 

 

“I..have a dog,” he starts. “And I have a therapist. I live with my best friend. I spend time with my sister and mom. I’m surrounded by women, now that I think of it,” he says with a wink. And honestly, after all that he experienced at the hands of men, and all that he’s seen Sara experience at their hands, he’s more than okay being surrounded by women. He knows they aren’t perfect and are capable of a damn lot of cruelty, he’s seen that too, but for now he’s good with who is in his life, even if it is a little estrogen heavy at the moment. 

 

“I bet you love that,” she jokes, looking right at him again. And she’s right, though he doubt she’s right about why. 

 

“I don’t mind at all,” he breathes out. He hopes she understands what he’s saying with that acknowledgement. 

 

She looks away, taking a long swig of coffee from her bright green thermos as she stares out at the landscape.

 

“What do you want to do?” she asks. Such a simple question. One his therapist has asked, and his mom has asked, and Sara has definitely asked it a few times. 

 

“I don’t know exactly,” he admits. “But I want to help people.”

 

“Are you going to go back to school?”

 

“Probably,” he says. He doesn’t actually want to, but he’s better now at doing things he doesn’t want to do, and he does have a hunger for knowledge that he never had before the island. “It was never my strong suit.”

 

“Maybe it will be now,” she tells him, shrugging as she glances up at him again with a reassuring smile. 

 

And he believes her. 

 

It’s getting later and he knows that they’ll have to go soon. He’s startled by how much he hates that idea. He’s relieved, too. It’s been a long time since he’s felt this exposed and open and as much as he doesn’t want to leave the presence of these two, he feels like he’ll need to regroup soon. 

 

“She wants a dog so badly,” Felicity says on a sigh as she watches her daughter coax Moose over to the duck spring toy, her voice slipping into a sad, resigned place that he wishes he could wipe away from her life. 

 

Oliver watches as Augie once again bounds back and forth and back and forth on the duck and wants to laugh at the way his dog’s head follows the movement, all spastic motion. 

 

“It’s a lot of work, but I think it’s been worth it,” is all Oliver says. 

 

“Thank you. For today. It means a lot,” Felicity tells him, looking him square in the eyes. The gratitude oozes out of her and Oliver is struck by how much he already cares about this woman. It makes shit for sense. But it’s there. 

 

“It’s not just today, Felicity.” It’s his turn to really look at her. He angles his body toward her and everything, in hopes that she’ll see how earnest he’s being. “I mean it. She can borrow him whenever it works out.”

 

“We can’t...I can’t expect --” Felicity tries to say something but can’t seem to find the words. Oliver knows though. Deep in his bones. He gets it. The fear of letting someone else in, of relying on someone else for a piece of your happiness. It sucks. 

 

“You can, though.” He reaches out to put a hand on her shoulder, and notes as she shudders a little, at his touch or at the cold, he isn’t really sure. But her head lists to to the side to rest on his hand for a moment and he can see the war inside her. 

 

“Maybe,” is what she replies as she straightens up and calls Augie over. 

 

The goodbyes are a little distraught as Augie hugs onto Moose’s neck and refuses to let go for a minute. In the end, her mom is firm and the little girl lets go. 

 

And then she latches onto Oliver’s leg, her small arms wrapping around his thigh in a tight hug and he freezes for a moment. 

 

“Thank you,” she whispers into his leg so quiet he almost misses it. 

 

“You’re welcome,” he replies, placing one of his large hands on the top of her head and ruffling her hair a little. “Anytime,” he adds. 

 

He just can’t help himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking there will be 4-6 chapters of this. I doubt they'll all be posted this quickly but we'll see. Thanks for all the love! It's been a balm to my broken heart. Also, note: this isn't beta'd so if you see a typo drop me a note here or at my [tumblr](http://peacefulboo.tumblr.com/). Feel free to come chatter at me over there, too. Love y'all!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is unbeta'd. :/ Hopefully you can enjoy it anyway. 
> 
> Also, there's no Moose in this chapter. Oops.

Felicity would be lying if she wasn’t a little miffed by Oliver’s parting words. Nothing will get her more cranky than someone promising her daughter something she hasn’t approved of. Felicity remembers spending more than half her childhood being let down by false promises. The one her father had given? That he’d be back that night? That was just the biggest. Her mom, bless her heart, eventually learned to not tell her about any special treats or trips or perks until there was a guarantee they would happen, but getting to that point was rough. Donna’s premature enthusiasm would end up shooting them both in the heart on more than one occasion. 

 

But what her mother took a few years and a very angry teenager to learn (but she did learn it and Felicity gives her all the credit for that) Felicity has been determined to nip in the bud from the start. She doesn’t make promises that she’s not one hundred percent she can keep, so she never makes promises. She was a little worried that her child wouldn’t grow up with a sense of anticipation or wonder or excitement for things to come, but Augie just seems more determined to have hope as her northern star as a result of her mother’s determination to manage it. 

 

Felicity also knows that an adult saying, “Anytime,” is usually a habit. It’s an afterthought. And adults, for the most part, have an unspoken agreement to let it go. They’ve agreed to take it in the spirit it was given. That it’s a token at best. 

 

Thursday afternoon, when Felicity looks up at the sound of knuckles rapping against her open door, she figures it’s one of her worker bees and almost doesn’t look up when she tells them to come in. Except it’s not one of her worker bees. It’s Oliver-fracking-Queen showing up in her office at work, looking abso-fucking-lutely ridiculous in his dark jeans and thin royal blue sweater, just leaning there against her door jam like he has any right to be that hot. Felicity is startled to say the least. 

 

“Hey, sorry. I was in the building and thought I’d --” he starts, his hand curled around the back of his neck in a sure sign of sheepishness. 

 

“Oliver! Mr. Queen?” she shakes her head. She’s making this weird. “Oliver. Hi! This is a surprise.”

 

“Yeah. I just got done with lunch with my mother and walked her back and figured I’d see you in your element,” he says, then cringes. “That sounded a lot less entitled in my head. I should have made an appointment. Or texted you, maybe?” 

 

He’s so awkward and unsure that Felicity would love to take pity on him. Except she’s not doing much better. Truth is it _would_ have been nice to have a heads up, but it’s not like he needs an appointment with her. What would they meet about? 

 

“Maybe, but no worries. We’re...friendly, right?” She can’t quite bring herself to call them friends. They’ve talked twice and as much as Felicity enjoyed her interaction with him the second time, it feels presumptuous to say that Oliver Queen is her friend. 

 

“Friendly?” he asks with a smile and a healthy dose of incredulousness. But then his face goes blank and Felicity swallows. She doesn’t like that face. “I’ll go,” he continues then adds, “Your office is nice.”

 

He turns to go and Felicity feels like this whole exchange went horribly wrong somewhere and a little like she’s about to lose something really important, so she blurts out, “Wait. Hold up!”

 

Oliver pauses halfway out the door and turns slightly toward her. 

 

“We kinda fucked that up,” she admits. “I’m sorry. I was just...surprised and I sometimes have a hard time with surprises. But I’m glad you’re here. Come in. To my nice office.”

 

Felicity can feel her eyes go wide at just how stupid that sounds. 

 

“You sure?” Oliver asks. 

 

She’s not, but she nods in encouragement anyway, “How was your lunch with your mother?”

 

“Oh. It was okay,” he replies. “She still has a hard time accepting that I probably won’t ever helm QC but she’s trying to get it I think. The longer I go without caving, the less she seems to push.”

 

“It’s still probably tiring, though. That there’s any pushing at all,” Felicity may not have been pushed to run a company, far from it really, but she knows from being pushed. She knows what it’s like to stand her ground against well meaning people who are trying to help. She knows how exhausting it can be. 

 

“Yeah. I just keep reminding myself that it’s because she cares,” Oliver replies, “and that she’s at least here to care.”

 

Felicity’s heart breaks for him. People lose their parents all the time and in all sorts of ways, but Felicity will never not be heartbroken for each and every one of them. She can only imagine losing a parent in such a violent way. 

 

“Yeah,” is what she lamely says. “Yeah.”

 

“Yeah,” he repeats. “I should get out of your hair.”

 

“Oh. Yeah, it’s been a day,” Felicity says allowing the weariness of the day to show in her voice. 

 

“It has,” he agrees. “So look. Sara and I will be taking Moose to the park on Saturday. I think Amaya might be coming, too, so if you want to save me from being the third wheel...”

 

“Ah. The dreaded third wheel. I know that wheel well, my friend,” she says injecting as much wry humor into her voice as she can. “Are you going in the morning?”

 

“Around nine, I think,” he replies. And damn if his face isn’t just a shiny ball of hope. 

 

“I think we can manage that, yeah,” Felicity replies. “Augie doesn’t know how to sleep in so we tend to be up by six. Even on the weekends.”

 

“Yeah. I don’t think I’ve slept past sunrise more than a handful of times in the last eight years,” Oliver agrees with an air of commiseration. 

 

Felicity can see it now. 

 

His eyes sleepy in the low morning light just as the sun is beginning to dawn, weary smile on his lips as they say good morning way earlier than either of them would like. She can hear Augie in the other room, singing quietly to herself as she slips out of her bed to join her mama in hers. She can feel Oliver’s breath on her cheek as he leans in to kiss her quickly before Augie jumps on their bed and demands they start their day. 

 

Oh shit. She cannot go there. At all. That train of thought needs to remain completely forbidden. What the fuck is wrong with you, Smoak?

 

“Felicity?” Oliver asks. 

 

She wonders how many times he’s said her name and blushes. 

 

“Yeah. Saturday morning. The big park. Nine.”

 

“See you then, and sorry again for interrupting your day,” he says as he turns to leave. 

 

“Anytime,” she replies to his retreating back. And fuck. She means it. 

 

***  
She doesn’t expect to see him before Saturday, so when he’s sitting at her and Augie’s favorite booth at Big Belly Burger, with John and Sara Diggle, she’s a little taken aback. Diggle has been her friend since she started at QC. They met the first day when her security badge wasn’t working properly and she was trying to tell the dudebro working the security station how to fix his damn machine when he called the head of security, John Diggle. Diggle cleared the matter up quickly, and dudebro only lasted another couple of weeks. Felicity would feel bad about being instrumental in someone losing his job, but the guy was an asshole and had apparently gotten caught harassing several other young female employees. 

 

That Diggle had been open to hearing her complaints, and was quick to actually investigate both her claim and the claims of the other women, had endeared her to him from the start. That he had a little girl only a bit younger than Augie helped solidify their friendship. 

 

On Fridays, when Diggle’s wife Lyla is away on work, which is frequently, Felicity and Dig take the girls for BBB. Felicity is always amazed at how Augie and Sara seem to never ever get sick of each other, even when they spend so much time in daycare together. 

 

“Hey!” She greets them and laughs at how startled Oliver looks. 

 

“There you are,” Diggle replies. “I was pretty sure this little one was going to bust out of her skin wondering where Augie was. We got here a little early.” The look he gives her tells her he regretted that decision pretty quickly. Sara can be a bit of a handful when she’s excited and despite having just seen each other a couple of hours before, Augie and Sara were always excited to be together. 

 

Sara crawls over her dad’s lap to get to her friend just as Augie climbs up onto the booth. They hug each other for a good minute, chattering away, before they let go. Her daughter is damn lucky to have found such a good friend in Sara. 

 

“I thought she was just like that with Moose,” Oliver says as he watches the two little girls with wide-eyes. 

 

“Moose and Sara Diggle,” Felicity replies. “She isn’t even that happy to see me when we’ve been apart for a few days,” she adds wryly. It’s an exaggeration, but only slightly.

 

“Where’s Moose?” Augie asks when she finally registers that Oliver is present. She frowns at him before she looks around the room and then through the window to see if the dog is outside. 

 

Oliver cringes when he realizes that he’s going to have to disappoint her. 

 

“Sorry, kiddo. Moose can’t come to Big Belly,” Oliver tells her. “But Sat-”

 

Felicity coughs to cut him off, shaking her head emphatically when he meets her eyes.

 

“He’s at home with Sara,” he finishes instead. 

 

“Big Sara is nice,” Augie states matter-of-factly, as if she approves that her beloved dog is with his other owner and that her approval was necessary. 

“She is,” Oliver agrees. 

 

“She’s met Moose?” Diggle asks, the skepticism thick in his voice. 

 

“Moose is my friend,” Augie tells him. 

 

Their food coming interrupts any further discussion and Felicity realizes she’s still just standing here at the edge of the booth. 

 

“You gonna hover over there all night?” John asks dry amusement coloring his voice. He nods toward the empty spot in the booth across from him. 

 

Which is right next to Oliver. Who she has sat next to before. It’s not a big deal. Except in front of John it feels like a very big deal. 

 

Felicity lowers herself into the booth and scootches over so she’s not hanging off the edge. Oliver has moved a little closer to the wall so she has plenty of space, but she can still feel the heat radiating off of him and has to stop herself from leaning toward it. 

Their food comes and they focus on eating for a bit which Felicity is grateful for. She didn’t have much of an appetite at lunch so the last substantial thing she ate was at 8:00 am and the burger and fries in front of her have her mouth watering and her stomach growling. 

 

She should have anticipated that she’d make an appreciative noise when she took that first bite. She almost always does. She should have known and stopped it. But she didn’t. So at the first taste of her food she just lets out the most embarrassing, borderline sexual moan and it isn’t until she feels Oliver tense beside her that she realizes it. 

 

Fuck. 

 

“What?” she says around the mouthful hoping it comes off as nonchalant as she’s aiming for. “Don’t pretend you don’t feel the same way.” 

 

“Um...I don’t...” Oliver stutters a little and she looks up to see the most spectacular blush coloring his cheeks and the tips of his ears.

 

Okay. She can work with that. It’s Friday night, it’s been quite the week, and she’s gonna lean into this feeling. 

 

This time as she takes her next bite she closes her eyes in slightly exaggerated pleasure and hums out, “Hmmm. It’s so good,” drawing out each syllable. It’s not quite porn star levels of enthusiasm -- there are kids around -- but it’s close. 

 

“Oh wow,” Oliver says. 

 

“Oh God, no,” is what Diggle says. 

 

Felicity cackles in response. And almost chokes in the process. 

 

Oliver stares at her for a moment then scrubs his hands across his face with a groan. “You’re a horrible person,” he says shaking his head. 

 

Diggle just gives her that says, “What are you doing, girl?” look. She widens her eyes, the picture of innocence and turns back to Oliver. 

 

“The worst,” she agrees with an irrepressible smile. 

 

She never does this. The flirting and the joking and the purposely trying to get a rise out of a guy. Even before Augie, she was never the girl to try to be sexy in any form. In college she watched girls go for seductively flirtatious, or hilariously raunchy, and she was at turns baffled and amused by it depending on the situation. She just never participated. Most of her pre and post Augie hook ups were a little more straightforward. She found him attractive, he found her attractive, they made out, slept together, and that was that. 

 

But this is kind of fun. 

 

They go back to eating, sans sexy noises, and Felicity sits back and lets the conversations flow around her. Oliver and John are talking about fly fishing, of all things, and Sara and Augie are chowing down on their fries while trying to figure out the best way through the maze on their coloring pages. 

 

The din of the diner lulls her into a relaxed state she rarely feels outside of her home. 

 

Which is probably why she doesn’t notice just how close she and Oliver have drifted until their shoulders brush. And why she doesn’t flinch, when instead of pulling away, his hand slides under hers, calloused fingers gliding against her open palm and then gently cradling it. 

 

His hands are as warm as hers are cold and the contrast sends a shiver up her spine. It’s such a small gesture, really, but the buzz of the connection between them is heady and she has to bite her lip to suppress the smile that’s threatening to take over her face. 

 

Oliver and Diggle haven’t stopped talking about some kick ass fly fishing spot on the Canadian border and the girls haven’t lifted their heads from where they’re bent over, coloring away. No one in Big Belly has stopped to stare at her. There is no record scratch halt in the sound around them. It’s just two people holding hands in the middle of dinner, like nothing has changed in the world. 

 

He reaches for his soda with his free hand and as he takes a sip, he turns to look at her, cocks his head and raises his eyebrows as if to ask, “You good with this?”

 

Her eyes go wide in answer and no amount of lip biting can contain her smile now. 

 

He is acknowledging this. Whatever this is, he’s present and aware and wants her to know it. And that means everything to her. She may only be 24 years old but Felicity Smoak has no time for games. Clandestine pining and secret hand holding may feel exciting for a moment, but nothing can beat adult relationships where both people are upfront with what they want. 

 

She hopes that, if they really do head in that direction, and she honestly thinks they will, that they won’t do the thing where they both have to wonder for weeks and months about what the other person wants. 

 

Sara and Augie grab Diggle’s attention at that moment, asking him to help them with one of the simple decoding activities on their coloring sheet so Felicity takes the opportunity to talk to Oliver. 

 

“This is nice,” she says. 

 

“It is,” Oliver agrees, squeezing her hand. 

 

For now, it’s enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, I welcome any comments. And feel free to come find me on [tumblr](http://peacefulboo.tumblr.com/)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The response to this fic has blown my mind. Thank you all for coming along on this dumb journey with me! I really appreciate it! 
> 
> This chapter admittedly puts a bit of a damper in the fluff. What's the quote about the course of true love never running smooth? But hey, Moose features in this! 
> 
>  
> 
> Also, another side note: anyone who looks at my fics or follows me on tumblr knows that I love Sara. I also write and love Smoaking Canary, Smoaking Canarrow, and Canarrow. This fic? Isn't any of those. It's Olicity and whatever smoosh name Sara and Amaya have. But Oliver and Sara? Are always going to love each other in a deep way that no one else is going to get to touch just based on what they've been through. That's particularly true given the alternate history I've given them here. Hopefully you're down with that. If not, no worries! There's you can find something awesome to read that's more up your alley!

Sara wakes a little later than normal Saturday morning. For her this means 7:00am instead of 5:00. That she’s waking up wrapped around her mostly naked girlfriend after a full night of sleep, is a relatively new development, one she cherishes. 

 

She’s learned a lot of things about Amaya in the last few weeks, one of the main ones being that the girl loves her sleep. She will sleep through any and everything but her alarm. It’s a little terrifying, but Sara takes advantage of it every morning when she wakes first and gets to watch her girlfriend completely relaxed in slumber. Her face is soft, which is different. Amaya has made an art of giving no fucks and letting no-one see her weaknesses. She’s sardonic and refuses to put up with people’s bullshit and Sara loves it and is so fucking proud of her. But she also loves these moments, where she wakes first, and looks across the pillow at this gorgeous, kind, woman who trusts that she’s safe in this moment. And she’s so grateful. 

 

She’s reluctant to get out of bed but she knows Oliver’s been up for a few hours already (if he’s slept at all) and today is important to him. And from the smells drifting into her room, he’s already started stress-baking. 

 

Sara drops a kiss to Amaya’s temple, pulls on a black t-shirt, a pair of grey leggings and shoves her feet into her warm Tweety Bird (because Oliver has a terrible sense of humor) slippers, then brushes her teeth and takes care of business in the en suite bathroom. When she’s done she slips out the door and into the rest of the apartment. 

 

Oliver is pulling a pan of his blueberry bran muffins out of the oven, and she can see he’s prepped some eggs and fillings for omelettes. She’s not gonna lie. The best part about living with Oliver, other than the comfort of knowing he’s alive and well, is the food. 

 

She shuffles up to him and hugs him tight from behind and just stays there for a bit, hoping that it’ll help ground him some. 

 

“Morning,” he grumbles out, his voice low and gravelly from disuse. He squeezes her arm and turns to drop a kiss on the top of her head. 

 

“Morning,” she mumbles back to him. 

 

Moose makes his presence known then by butting up against Sara’s knees so they buckle and she has to cling onto Oliver to keep from sitting on the dog. 

 

“Moose!” Oliver says, sharp and low, and the dog obediently steps back a bit. 

 

With one more squeeze around Oliver’s torso, Sara steps away. She immediately kneels down on the floor to hug the dog and greet him. She runs her hands along his torso and then up to scratch around the crown of his head and behind his ears. Moose presses his nose against hers but is good about not licking her. 

 

Once she’s said a proper good morning to the dog she heads to the refrigerator to pour herself a quarter glass of orange juice. She holds the pitcher up, offering to pour Oliver some and he nods in thanks. She takes the glasses with the little bits of juice and fills them the rest of the way with chilled water. Sara pushes herself up on the counter and watches as he makes their omelets. 

 

“So who all is going to be there today?” Sara asks. 

 

“You and Amaya, Felicity and Augie. That’s all I know of.”

 

“You need some dudes in your life,” she tells him with a pointed look. 

 

“I had dinner with Diggle last night,” he retorts. 

 

Sara lifts her eyebrows in response. That’s new. 

 

“He was at Big Belly with baby Sara when I stopped by to grab dinner. He invited me to sit with them. And Felicity and Augie.”

 

“How’d that go?” Sara asks as she smiles behind her glass. She and Amaya had gotten in late and had gone straight to Sara’s bedroom, so this is all news to her. Welcome news. Oliver and Sara met John Diggle shortly after they returned home. He was instrumental in helping them feel secure, showing them all aspects of the security that had been set up for themselves and their family, and he offered to work with them on their fighting skills. They’d learned a lot on the island. They had allies and enemies there and nothing about those years was easy. Diggle and Lyla have been a godsend, both possessing this great mix of pragmatic grace and brutality. 

 

She can see Diggle being friends with Felicity. There is an underlying steel slightly touched by melancholy that they all share. It’s part of what put her at ease with the younger woman as soon as they met, and she knows that it’s a part of what’s pulling Oliver toward her. 

 

“It was good,” he says, and she can hear the hint of a smile that she can’t see with his head turned determinedly away from her. 

 

“Just good,” she asks, dumping muffins out of the pan so they can cool faster. 

 

“Good is still a good thing, right?” he asks, and again, she can hear the eye-roll more than see it. 

 

“It’s a very good thing, especially coming from you,” she agrees. He might as well be singing that the hills are alive while twirling on a grassy mountain side. He may not be as restrained with her as he is with everyone else, but he’s not a gusher. 

 

“But you like her? Still? Now that you’ve spent a little more time with her?” she asks for confirmation of what she already knows. 

 

“Yeah. I like her.”

 

Oliver continues making omelets and Sara cleans up the leftover mess from chopping the omelet ingredients and making the muffins. The noise of her washing the dishes must wake Amaya up because she quietly moves into the kitchen, and heads straight to the coffee machine. Neither Sara or Oliver got back into the habit of drinking coffee on the regular, but the apartment came with a nice machine and keep coffee around for guests. 

 

Only when Amaya’s done starting a small pot does she move in between Sara’s legs to snuggle against her. 

 

“Morning, beautiful,” Sara whispers in her ear. 

 

“G’morning,” Amaya croaks against her throat. She really, really hates mornings and the relationship is still new enough that Sara finds that fucking adorable. 

 

“You want the usual,” Oliver asks her when she peeks her head up from where she’s standing wrapped up in Sara’s arms. 

 

“Please,” she answers, hunger and gratefulness vying for supremacy in that one word. 

 

Amaya has been around enough now that Oliver knows that she only likes cheese and mushrooms in hers, so once he’s plated his and Sara’s turkey and veggie omelets, he starts working on hers. Amaya pulls herself out of Sara’s embrace so she can pour herself a cup of coffee - no sugar but with a health dose of almond milk - and they move to the breakfast bar to eat. 

 

Oliver takes a few slow bites of his while it’s still warm as he stands at the stove, keeping a close eye on Amaya’s breakfast. He plates that omelet too, and goes to sit with them. 

 

“Thanks, Oliver,” Amaya says when he sets her plate in front of her. 

 

They eat, only breaking the silence to laugh when Moose pops up from the floor and rests his head on the table next to Amaya’s plate, his large, golden eyes staring up in hope. 

 

***

They have a good run to and through the park. The trees have mostly shed their leaves but it hasn’t rained in a week and they’re thankful for the dry ground, especially with Oliver’s knee giving him some issues lately. 

 

Sara will always cringe when she remembers how one of the mercenaries who held them prisoner at one point during their time on the island, got fed up with Oliver’s lack of cooperation, kicked his knee from the side, dislocating the knee cap. That he was able to reduce it on his own once he was on the ground, was a plus, but a lot of damage had already been done. He’s just lucky that the soldier hadn’t kicked the joint from the front. Still, watching Shado, drain the fluid and blood off the knee later that night when they were alone, was completely disgusting, even if it wasn’t the grossest thing she saw during their time on Lian Yu. 

 

The park is still uncommonly empty for this time of morning on a weekend. The cold is bearable, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t kept a fair share of families indoors. The emptiness makes it easy to spot Augie, wearing a bright orange and pink puffy jacket, in the middle of a pile of dead leaves, twirling around and then falling into them, before popping back up and throwing handfuls of leaves in the air. Sara shakes her head at the scene and doesn’t even try and suppress her smile. 

 

From the dorky grin on Oliver’s face, neither does he. 

 

Moose immediate starts pulling on his leash trying to get to the little girl and Sara has to use her command voice to keep him from dragging her over to Augie. He listens immediately. 

 

Once again, as soon as Augie spots the dog she’s running toward him and they’re off in their own little world together. It’s cute as fuck, and Sara takes the opportunity to unhook Moose’s leash so she can loop it around the bolted-down bench they’ve gathered around. 

 

It’s then that Felicity stands from where she was sitting on the ground between the roots of one of the older trees in the park and, immediately, Oliver only has eyes for her. 

 

She really is gorgeous, Sara thinks. She has her multi-colored hair pulled back in loose braids, though they’re mostly covered by her moss green pageboy hat. The jeans she’s wearing does wonderful things to her ass and her deep emerald peacoat is adorable and Sara kinda covets it. 

 

Felicity brushes the dirt off of her butt and the backs of her thighs as she moves to greet them, and Sara is pleasantly surprised to see Oliver pull her into a hug right away. It’s a little stilted at first but they both seem to quickly melt in the other’s presence and Sara turns to Amaya to give them a little privacy. 

 

“Well they’re cute,” Amaya tells her. 

 

“Which ones?” Sara asks. 

 

“All of them?” Amaya answers with a shrug. 

 

“Pretty much,” Sara agrees. 

 

“Amaya,” Oliver says once he releases Felicity. Well he releases her from his hug, not so much from himself. His hand rests on the small of Felicity’s back as he guides her over to them, “This is my friend, Felicity.”

 

The pride that fills his voice when he says “my friend” almost makes Sara tear up. Besides the Diggles, Oliver hasn’t actually made other friends in the last three years. It’s surprisingly touching. 

 

And maybe a little hard, if she’s honest. 

 

Sara pushes that down as Felicity steps forward to shake Amaya’s hand. 

 

“You’re girlfriend’s great,” Felicity says and they all chuckle at her frankness. 

 

“She is,” Amaya agrees. 

 

“Oh. No. I mean, she is! But that probably sounded like I was...I dunno,” Felicity sighs and shakes her head. “It wasn’t weird and then I made it kinda weird. I do that sometimes.” 

 

“I like hearing that I’m great,” Sara answers with a shrug. “Bout time someone recognizes it.” Sara throws her arm around Felicity’s shoulders and squeezes them lightly in reassurance. 

 

“Oh please,” Amaya retorts. “I told you just last night just how great you are,” she adds with a wink. 

 

“That you did,” Sara replies winking back. If she blushes a little at memory, then she blushes. 

 

“I’d remind you two that there are little ears but she’s in Moose-land now,” Felicity says, “Which is why Sara is great. Letting Augie spend so much time with Moose has been...I don’t know what to say. It’s been really great.”

 

“Look at them,” Sara says in reply. “Who in the world could say no to that?”

 

“Your daughter is beautiful,” Amaya tells Felicity. 

 

“Thank you,” Felicity replies. “I certainly think so.”

 

They all watch the two of them for a while, getting a kick out of how Augie piles leaves on top of the dog, and then is overtaken with giggles when he shakes them off. 

 

Oliver and Felicity start another quiet conversation that Sara can’t quite hear, so Sara decides to make her own fun, grabbing a handful of dry leaves and dumping them on Amaya’s head. 

 

“What the fu--” Amaya cries out in exaggerated outrage. 

 

“Whatchya gonna do about it?” Sara taunts and then takes off at a run as Amaya chases her with her own handful of leaves. At some point, Augie decides that chasing after them will be a little more fun than what she’s doing with Moose so they start chasing her, covering her in leaves as well. After a few minutes of leaf tag, Sara ends the chase by scooping up Augie up, carting her around by looping her arm around the little girl’s torso and flying her though the air while declaring herself the leaf queen.

 

Augie shrieks with laughter, her giggles so intense that they turn into hiccups. 

 

Sara puts the girl back down on the ground, rolling her eyes as the girl exaggerates how dizzy she is. “You really are a ray of pure sunshine, Augie-girl,” Sara says when the little girl hugs first her, then Amaya. 

 

“You’re fun, Big Sara!” is all the little girl says in reply. 

 

With all the excitement Moose, is straining at his leash and whining, itching to get in on the fun. Or itching to protect Augie, Sara’s not entirely sure. Sara, Augie and Amaya shower the dog with love and once they get back to get him to chill out a little. 

 

“Hey kiddo, is it okay if we take Augie to the part of the park where the dogs can run around a little more? Maybe you and Moose can play fetch over there,” Oliver asks.

 

“Yeah, yeah!” Augie agrees. 

 

They all move over to the dog park and Oliver pulls out the ball and rag rope, some of Moose’s favorite park toys. Oliver whips the ball far across the yard a few times to let Moose get some bursts of energy out first, but then he turns the slobber covered ball over to Augie. 

 

“Your turn, kiddo,” he tells her. 

 

Sara wonders when the “kiddo” thing started, but she doesn’t ask. 

 

Amaya takes over showing Augie how to best throw the ball, and where, so the dog can run a little more. Augie’s got a decent arm for a 5-year-old but her attempts are still pretty short. 

 

Sara settles on the bench with Oliver and Felicity. 

 

“How the eff do you keep up with her?” Sara asks. She’s in excellent shape, but there’s something _extra_ about the energy she’s expended today. 

 

“She’s not always like this,” Felicity replies. “She’s pretty good about sitting and reading, or coloring, or playing on her tablet. But I do try and bring her outside at least once a day so she can run around and just be little.” 

 

“From what I can tell you seem to be doing an amazing job,” Sara tells her. 

 

“I hope so.”

 

“So, I’m just going to float this out there,” Sara starts with a deep breath, “but if you ever need someone to look after her when you’re busy with whatever, I’d be willing to watch her sometimes,” Sara offers.

 

She knows they’re still basically strangers, but she’s been vetted by the Diggles so she hopes Felicity will take the offer in the spirit it’s intended. 

 

“Thank you,” Felicity says, looking first at Oliver and then back to Sara, “That would be amazing. I’ll let you know if the need ever pops up,” she finishes with a raised eyebrow and a shrug. 

 

“Oh, I’m sure it will,” Sara replies with a pointed look at Oliver, who just frowns at her and turns to watch Amaya show Augie how to follow through on her throw. 

 

***

 

Except a few weeks go by and the need doesn’t arise. At first, Sara thinks that Felicity just found another sitter, maybe the Diggles or someone from work, and she’s distracted with Thanksgiving prep and finals coming up and Sara’s always been smart but she’s never been studious, so all the reading and all the papers that she’s procrastinated have piled up and it’s crunch time and damnit she has a girlfriend, so really who can blame her if she completely misses that Oliver never freaking asks Felicity out on a date. 

 

And Felicity, it seems, doesn’t ask him either. 

 

She knows there are more Moose and Augie playdates, she’s been on a couple of them herself in the intervening weeks, but Oliver has only left the apartment to go for runs or meet with his family. He’s collapsed into himself instead of expanding his circle like it seemed he was on the cusp of doing. 

 

He’s sprawled himself out in corner of their sectional couch, reading, Moose curled up at his feet sleeping and obviously dreaming. Sara plops herself down next to Oliver and sighs loudly. It’s passive aggressive, sure, but affective. 

 

“Yes?” he asks without looking up from his book. 

 

“Whatchya reading?”

 

Instead of telling her he lifts the book up so she can see the cover. 

 

“Ugh. Virgil,” she mutters. He’s the worst. 

 

He hums in response but keeps reading. This part of Oliver has always been so strange to Sara. The boy who couldn’t stand history, or geography, or chemistry, or even most other literature, loves the classics and has since high school. If he can articulate why the classics and not anything else, she’s never heard it. It just clicks for him on a bone deep level. 

 

He reads other stuff now -- he was reading Moby fucking Dick last week -- but he always comes back to Homer and Virgil and Ovid. Hell she even caught him reading Sappho a year ago, two weeks after she came home with her first female bed partner. It was kind of sweet. 

 

“So you know we’re going to have to talk about the Felicity thing,” Sara starts. She’s not very good at subtle. 

 

“The Felicity thing?” he asks without looking up. 

 

“The thing where you should have asked her on a date weeks ago but haven’t.”

 

“I don’t think that’s a thing,” he replies. 

 

“Oh it’s a thing,” she retorts, snuggling back into the plush cushions and tucking her bare feet under his thighs. She knows he kind of hates it, but that’s what he gets for being so warm and for hogging the dog for his own feet. 

 

“It’s really not,” he says. As arguments go it’s not terribly effective. 

 

“What about the flirting and the handholding at Big Belly? What about the way you look at her like she holds answers you didn’t even know you had questions for?” she asks, 99 percent sure that she stole that line from somewhere. It’s a good line. And it describes how Oliver looks at Felicity perfectly. 

 

“I don’t know,” he says after a lengthy pause. He finally puts the book down and leans his head back against the cushions. “She pulled back.” 

 

Oh. 

 

“Are you sure?” Sara asks. She hadn’t noticed anything different during the last trip they all took to the park together, but she was admittedly spending most of her time with Augie to give Oliver and Felicity some space together. 

 

“Pretty sure,” he says sadly. 

 

“So you’re not sure, sure,” she coaxes. Maybe he’s just misread the situation.

 

“Yeah. I went to take her hand when we were at the park, maybe a week after that night with Diggle. I was going to see if she wanted to go get dinner at Ruben’s, but she let go. Right away. She put her hands in her pockets and changed the subject before I could finish.”

 

Well damn. 

 

“Oh Oliver,” she says and reaches up to cup his cheek. 

 

He just turns his head so he can look at her and the sadness in his stupid eyes kills her. He was so stoked about this girl. And, God. he’d met with them multiple times since then. Alone. 

 

He’s so good at reading people when they’re scary. He can sniff out bad intentions as soon as he enters a room. But in every other way his heart is so open and vulnerable. He’s so bad at guarding himself sometimes. 

 

“I really like her,” he says quietly, his voice raspy and resigned. 

 

“Yeah. And she likes you,” she says. They both know the world doesn’t work that way, though. Not always. Mutual interest and affection can’t always overcome all the other things that come their way. 

 

“I think she does, yeah,” he agrees. 

 

“Have you asked her about what happened?” She knows he hasn’t, and usually she would say it isn’t necessary, but she doesn’t see Oliver or Felicity denying Augie her time with Moose anytime soon. Not just because it might be a little uncomfortable between the two of them. 

 

“No. I figured I’d give it more time,” he says, but he doesn’t sound terribly hopeful. There is an optimist and a realist residing in Oliver and right now the realist is winning. 

 

“And then?”

 

Silence rings out between them for a few beats. He closes his eyes and she can tell that he’s concentrating on his breaths. 

 

“Then I have to be brave enough to ask for the truth,” he replies. 

 

“Even if you don’t like it,” she says. 

 

“Even if I don’t like it,” he agrees and then goes back to his book.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate. Thanks for all the love. It means a ton. Let me know what you think, yeah? Also, if I've futzed with timelines and this one doesn't quite jive with last chapter, just assume this is the right one, yeah? I've looked at the two too many times and have thoroughly confused myself. I'm giving up for today. ;) #bestwriterever #dontlaugh

Felicity has never been someone who needs a lot of sleep, which is good because it seems she’s passed that trait on to Augie. Which is why it’s 6:00am on a Sunday morning and her daughter has already made her way to her mama’s bed. They do this most weekend mornings, Augie pads into Felicity’s room, struggles her way up into Felicity’s bed, snuggles her butt under covers and cuddles into her mama’s side. They usually stay that way for a good 20 minutes in silence before Augie asks any one of her inexhaustible questions. 

 

“Mama, why don’t all leaves turn red if the red ones are the prettiest?”

 

“Why are there even small dogs at all?”

 

“Who decided that kids shouldn’t read until they’re five?”

 

“How do cartoons work?”

 

“Do you think Oliver can be my dad for a day?”

 

Felicity is gut punched in a way she hasn’t been in a long time. She can feel the dread creeping down from the top her head and invading her whole body. She takes a couple of steadying breaths and asks, “What makes you ask me that, baby?” 

 

“Jackie is going on a date with her daddy to a big party and she told Sara and me to go but you have to go with a daddy,” Augie states. She doesn’t seem particularly concerned or distressed. She’s just giving Felicity the facts as she knows them. 

 

“Like a Father/Daughter dance,” Felicity asks. _How do those events still exist these days?_

 

“I guess,” Augie says as she pushes her head between Felicity’s breasts and sighs. She reaches up to play with one of her mom’s curls, something she’s done since she was an infant. 

 

“Do you _want_ to go to the Daddy/Daughter day?” Felicity is counting on Augie’s general dislike for strangers and crowds of people to dissuade her daughter from wanting to go. 

 

Augie is quiet for a few moments as she thinks it through on her own. Felicity waits patiently, stroking her hand through Augie’s curls, knowing she’s probably just making them a frizzy mess. 

 

“No. Not really,” she finally answers. 

 

“Well if you decide you want to go, Mama will take you,” Felicity says. Fuck anyone who tries to stop her.

 

“You’re not a boy, Mama,” Augie points out. 

 

“Doesn’t matter,” Felicity states. Because it doesn’t. She is both mama and dad to her kiddo and always has been. Her kid has grown up secure and loved and cared for all despite not having a father figure. No one gets to make her daughter feel like she’s less than whole because her father isn’t around. 

 

The sound of Augie’s tummy grumbling shakes her from her revery and she smiles when her daughter sheepishly giggles at the noise. 

 

“I guess it’s grub time,” Felicity says as she pats Augie’s belly and moves to get up. 

 

“Wait!” Augie cries, clinging to Felicity and keeping her in the bed. 

 

“What baby?” Felicity asks. 

 

“I don’t wanna let go yet,” Augie states, holding tighter to Felicity’s torso. 

 

She indulges her daughter for another ten minutes, until both their tummies rumble and Felicity decides she needs to be an adult about things. They eat cereal at the breakfast bar and then get dressed and spend the day at the Children’s Museum in town like they do at least once a month. 

 

She loves watching her daughter interact with the world. Nothing has ever made her happier. 

 

After dinner, while Augie is laying on her stomach on the floor, coloring and singing softly to herself, Felicity goes to their local Humane Society website to see if there are any Great Danes or Great Dane mixes available for adoption in their area. There aren’t. She sets up an alert to tell her if one becomes available. 

 

***  
Later that night, once Augie is in bed and Felicity has nothing else to distract her, she flops down on her bed in just her underwear and long sleeved t-shirt and stares up at the ceiling. 

 

She hasn’t been able to get Augie’s words out of her head. And every time they pop into her mind, the panic wells up and she has to catch her breath. 

 

It’s clear to her after further little conversations they’ve had throughout the day, that Augie doesn’t see Oliver as daddy, which is good on a lot of levels. A. He’s not. B. Felicity and Oliver aren’t even dating. C. Augie should not be getting that attached to a grown men in that short amount of time. And D. Felicity isn’t even sure how she feels about him. 

 

Augie hadn’t seemed like she actually wanted Oliver to be her dad. She just looked at her options and figured he’d be the best choice. But Felicity was still floored. They’ve been hanging out for a week. 

 

A _week_. 

 

Augie seeing Oliver as potential stand-in dad caught Felicity off guard in a way it really shouldn’t have. Of course her daughter hasn’t missed Felicity’s affinity for the man. Of course she’s noticed that he’s the only guy other than Diggle or Curtis who has ever been around. Of course she put two and two together and gotten...well she’d gotten some version of four. 

 

This whole week since they first met Oliver and Moose and Sara, Felicity has been giddy with the chemistry she’s felt between them. She’s been excited by the potential there and yes, a few times, Friday night at the diner in particular, she’s been ready to jump in with both feet. 

 

She hasn’t been ignoring the fact that she has a daughter who would be affected, Augie was there for most of those meetings after all, but she’s obviously been pushing the concerns that come with that aside. 

 

Because she’s basically wanted to fuck Oliver from the first second she saw him. And she likes what she knows of him. A lot. And that combination? That’s new. And it’s heady as fuck. 

 

But here they are a week in and her daughter is asking questions Felicity isn’t ready for and damnit. She needs to pump the brakes on this whole thing. 

 

She doesn’t want to. Not really.

 

So what does she want? She wants Oliver physically. 

 

And she wants to get to know him. 

 

And she wants her daughter to be happy and not confused. At least not about this. At least not yet. 

 

If she thought she could get away with a physical relationship with Oliver and keep it to that and walks in the park with her kid and his dog, she’d probably do it. But one memory of the looks he’s given her and she knows that’s not where he’s at. 

 

So until she’s ready to be all in, until she really figures out what she wants, and maybe until she knows Oliver, the person a little better, she’s going to have to pull back. 

 

Fuck. 

 

She’d been looking forward to holding him. And learning more about him while being physically close to him. And orgasms. She’s been looking forward to the orgasms that she’s pretty damn sure he’d be giving her. 

 

So she decides to talk to him the next time they see each other, and then slides her fingers down her belly and under her underwear and helps herself to an orgasm. Something tells her that this might be a common occurrence for the the foreseeable future. 

 

***

 

The orgasm had helped short out her mind at least, and she gets some decent sleep. 

 

She walks into the park this morning determined to let Oliver know that she digs him, but she’s going to need more time before she’s willing to date. And to let him know that she’s going to try and find a dog of their own so her daughter can stop hogging his. 

 

What happens instead is that Oliver immediately reaches for her hand when they walk up to him and Moose, and Felicity panics, pulls her hand back, shoves it into her pocket and starts talking about photosynthesis and why the leaves change the colors they do in the fall. And then she talks about comics and how they aren’t all about superpowers. That there are some amazing activism focused comics that have really helped change how she sees the world and privilege and feminism and does he know about intersectional feminism. 

 

And then she starts babbling about the patriarchy and how much she wants to raise a daughter who isn’t afraid of the struggle against it, but she’d prefer to raise a daughter who doesn’t have to. 

 

He takes the hint. He takes it so well. Better than he should really

 

When she takes a second to look up at his face she sees the sadness and confusion there, but she’s pretty sure she also sees compassion and understanding and damn if that doesn’t just kill her right there. 

 

Cause she knows that he’s into this and that he was about to take a risk that she imagines he hasn’t taken in forever and to crush it before it even gets started feels cruel and so, so shitty. 

 

Again, there’s a part of her that thinks that she should just cut off all contact. That she should let him have time to himself so he can regroup. 

 

But then she looks up and there’s Augie and Moose. Augie’s been more quiet today than normal and she’s mostly been sitting on the dry grass with Moose’s head in her lap, stroking him behind his ears and down his flanks and he’s just laying there letting her love on him. 

 

And she can’t do it. She’ll do anything for her baby, even endure super awkward playdates with the guy she’s so into when she can’t go there with him yet.

 

She opens her mouth a few times to tell him what’s going on in her head, but she can’t. The words don’t come. 

 

Instead she says, “Did you know that sometimes big dogs make the best apartment dogs?”

 

“I do know that,” he answers, slight confusion in his voice. Because of course he does. He has one of those dogs. 

 

“Yeah. I guess you do.”

 

“Did you know that not all rain forests are Tropical?” Oliver asks. 

 

“Yeah. I did. I took Augie camping in the Hoh a few months ago. Or I tried. We lasted less than half a day,” Felicity admits sheepishly. Then she adds, “Did you know bamboo can grow more than 30 inches a day? I mean, it doesn’t usually, but it can and that seems crazy to me.”

 

“I didn’t. But it doesn’t surprise me. It definitely grew faster than I expected,” he answers with a shrug. 

 

Felicity has no reply to that.

 

“When I was a kid, our housekeeper Raisa told me the myth of Hades and Persephone while feeding me pomegranate seeds. I didn’t sleep that night thinking I’d get dragged down to the underworld.”

 

“Aww. Poor baby you,” Felicity say as she let out a little laugh. 

 

“I still have a hard time eating them,” he admits sheepishly. 

 

“As a kid I had a sleepover with an acquaintance who didn’t know I was Jewish and the mom made a casserole that had meat and cheese in it. Except it didn’t really occur to me that people would mix the two so I didn’t notice until I tasted it. I thought for sure I would be punished,” she admitted. “I didn’t really get all the rules and the whys and how it all worked yet. I just freaked out and called my mom to come get me. I never told her why, though.”

 

“You’re Jewish?” Oliver asks, cocking his head to look at her better. 

 

“We are,” she says simply. 

 

“You have so many layers, Felicity Smoak,” he says after a few moments. It’s almost under his breath and Felicity isn’t entirely sure that she was supposed to hear. 

 

“I contain multitudes, Oliver,” she says. “I have a feeling you do, too.”

 

***  
She forces Diggle to go grab coffee with her during his lunch break before she heads into work on a Thursday afternoon. She’s dropped Augie off early at daycare and practically drags him out of his small office on the first floor of the QC building. He indulges her as he often does and she’s grateful. He likes to spend a few minutes with his daughter during his lunch hour, but hopefully the early arrival of Augie will be enough to distract Sara and Felicity really, really needs to talk to her friend. She’d talk to Lyla, but she’s out of town again and she needs to talk it out with someone who knows both her and Oliver. 

 

“If you’re walking fast enough that I have to hurry to keep up, even with my long-ass legs, you must have something heavy on your mind, Felicity,” he tells her when they’re halfway to the cafe. “Are your shoes on fire,“ he asks sarcastically, though there’s a heavy dose of concern in his voice. 

 

Felicity stills, takes a deep breath, and turns to look up at him, while tucking her long bangs behind one ear in a vain attempt to keep the wind from capturing them again. He knows her well. 

 

“Sorry,” she murmurs. “There’s a lot going on up here,” she adds, tapping the crown of her head. 

 

“I figured you dragged me out of my office for a reason. Just slow down, take a breath.”

 

“Breathing is good, yeah.”

 

They walk in silence, much slower than before, and Felicity feels herself physically relax as they enter the warmth of the cafe and leave the biting wind behind them. They order their usuals to go and find a small table in the front of the dining room to wait. 

 

“So what’s got you so worked up, Felicity?”

 

“Ugh. It’s feels stupid to even say out loud,” she huffs. She hasn’t had to talk about a boy she likes in forever and she wasn’t particularly good at it back then. 

 

Diggle just gives her a pointed look. 

 

So she squares her shoulders and looks him straight in the eye like the grown up she is. 

 

“I need to talk to you about Oliver.”

 

“I’m so surprised,” he says, deadpan. 

 

So he’s not going to make this any easier. Fine. 

 

“I just need to pick your brain,” she continues. 

 

“Pick away.”

 

“I like him. I like him a lot. But there’s a lot of stuff about him that I don’t know and I just...” she trails off. She doesn’t know a lot about him because they’ve only know each other for, like, three weeks, and really how much can you know about a guy in three weeks, really. 

 

“I can’t tell you much, Felicity. It’s not anywhere near my place,” he tells her, concern heavy in his voice. At least he’s done teasing her. That’s good. 

 

“I know and I don’t expect you to,” she pauses unsure how to formulate what she wants and needs from her friend. “But you’d warn me off, right? If it was a bad idea to try?”

 

Diggle takes a sip of his coffee and looks at her for a drawn out moment as if measuring what is appropriate to say here. 

 

“If I thought Oliver was a physical danger to you or to Augie, I’d do more than warn you. And I wouldn’t have waited this long to do it,” he tells her, his voice steely. 

 

“Right. Of course you would. I wasn’t trying to say you wouldn’t watch out for us. I just...What about emotionally?” The second she asks she wants to take it back. It’s not really a fair question. 

 

“I can’t answer that. I can’t predict that,” he tells her with a shake of his head. “There’s no telling what will pop up when two people get together, when shitty things happen, or even good things. But what I do know is that Oliver is a good guy who has been actively working his shit out for years. He admits that freely. I don’t know that you can ask for more than that from someone you barely know.”

 

Their food order gets called and they collect the to-go bags and head back out into the wind. The walk back is slower than the walk over though the wind is at their back this time, which helps. 

 

They’re almost to the doors when Felicity says, “He’s a good man, right?”

 

“He is,” Diggle answers with a nod, like he’s sure of it. 

 

“So are you, John Diggle,” Felicity tells him as she stands on tip-toes to kiss his cheek. 

 

He smiles at her, squeezes her shoulder, and then they head into work, ready to face the rest of their day. 

 

***

 

The Sunday before Thanksgiving Felicity again finds herself in bed with Augie’s sleepy self snuggled up against her. She got a hit on her Great Dane alert last night and it’s got her tied up in knots. 

 

Over the last three weeks she’s had more time together with Oliver than she’s had with anyone she doesn’t work with, and as she looks down at her baby girl, drowsing in her arms, she wonders if taking the chance to really be with him could be worth the risk. 

 

Oliver Queen has had every chance to run. He’s had every chance to distance himself or to take Moose and cut off whatever weird dog-sharing arrangement they have going, but he hasn’t. He’s stayed and he’s been kind and attentive and present even as he’s kept a polite, appropriate distance. 

 

Augie seems to be taking her cues from them. She’s polite with Oliver and is sure to thank him for letting her play with Moose, but that’s the extent of it. She doesn’t hug his leg anymore when she does it. And she doesn’t ask about him anymore. Felicity’s seen her looking at him a few times, like she’s trying to figure him out, and she’s definitely seen the sweet smiles of affection that Oliver gets when he watches Augie and Moose frolicking, and Felicity can tell he’s definitely fond of her, but beyond that they both seem to be a bit wary of each other in a way that they weren’t that first week. It kind of breaks her heart that her choice to step back has caused that, even as she knows that it’s probably for the best. At least until she makes a decision herself. 

 

She clicks on the link to look at the available dog. She’s cute. Two years old, well-trained. 100-freaking-pounds, which sounds up their alley. She’s blue with soulful eyes. 

 

Well that helps nothing.

 

***

 

The next morning is the beginning of a short work week, and Felicity’s grateful. They start it with a meeting with Moose and Oliver in the park and Felicity is determined to make some sort of decision today. It’s either time to talk to Oliver about what she’s feeling, or time to seriously look into getting a dog of their own. Oliver’s being patient with her, but it doesn’t seem fair to drag this out, forcing him to have the contact with them when she is almost sure that he wants more. 

 

For once Oliver and Moose are there before she and Augie arrive and it’s a nice change since it’s always a little hard to contain Augie when she’s got so much anticipation building up. Augie runs straight for the dog, looking both adorable and ridiculous in her super puffy jacket, thick mittens, two layers of pants and clunky boots. Not to mention the beanie that is straining to contain all her masses of curly hair and the poufy lime green scarf she has wrapped around her neck. She can barely maneuver but it doesn’t really stop her. 

 

Felicity’s struck by how tough and tenacious her daughter is and she’s overwhelmed with pride. 

 

“You ready for the holiday?” Oliver asks once they’ve settled on the bench each with a thermos in hand. 

 

He looks particularly gorgeous today, the blue of his hat brings out his eyes, his close fitting running gear, which should look ridiculous, just seems to accentuate his ass and thighs in a way that makes her swallow hard. 

 

“We don’t really do Thanksgiving in our house,” she admits. As a rebel teenager she had decided that Thanksgiving was fucked up and refused to celebrate it. That never really stopped. The fact that her mom almost always worked on Thanksgiving might have had something to do with it, but she just couldn’t quite get over the fact that the day celebrated the start of American colonization (at least on the East Coast). Now that Augie’s getting older, she knows she’s going to need to contend with school teaching Thanksgiving and having celebrations, but she’s still deciding how exactly she’s going to handle that. 

 

“Huh,” Oliver hums out, like another puzzle piece had slotted itself into place. 

 

“I mean, gratitude is good, but I try to teach her that everyday. It seems strange that we need a specific holiday to talk about what we’re thankful for,” Felicity says, ducking her head. She’s aware that it sounds naive and young. But, despite being a mother, she kind of hopes there’s still room for a little shiny optimism and naivete in her life. 

 

“She’s remarkably good at saying thank you,” Oliver says in answer. 

 

“Most of the time,” Felicity agrees. 

 

“So Thanksgiving is just another day for you two?” he asks. 

 

“More or less, yeah. I’m not a big turkey fan, and it seems silly to cook something that involved when it’s just the two of us and one of us doesn’t like it,” Felicity admits. “What about you?” she asks, trying to take the scrutiny off of herself. 

 

“Growing up it never occurred to me that holidays might be optional for some people. I do know I always liked holidays better when it was...small, I guess. We always had some formal party or gala to go to where us kids got paraded out and had to act like small adults and I mostly hated all of that. At least until it meant that I could pick up girls. But when it was just family and a few friends I usually liked it more. A lot of times when we were younger that didn’t really happen. And I guess when you grow up with a lot of food at every meal and no real want for anything, holidays, especially holidays like Thanksgiving, are basically just another day.”

 

Felicity doesn’t want to interrupt him because these little nuggets of his history were precious and not always readily given. She cherishes each one and tries to tuck them away to go over them later, trying to get a clearer picture of this fascinating guy. So she asks, “What about now?”

 

Now meaning post-Island. Now meaning, now that he knows what it’s like to want. She thinks he understands what underpins the question when he smiles at her a little sadly and the look in his eyes is so deep and soulful that she can feel her own eyes well up with unshed tears. 

 

“Now I get it. I get the need to celebrate having plenty when you thought all hope was lost. I get wanting to be with your family to celebrate getting through another year together. I still hate the formal events, but now my mom seems to get _that_. Thea told me that they didn’t celebrate many holidays when I was gone, so when we do now they aren’t usually accompanied by a string quartet.”

 

“Too bad,” Felicity says. “String Quartets are awesome.”

 

Oliver laughs at that. It really is such a heartwarming sound. She finds that she wants to make it happen as often as she can. 

 

And that’s her answer. She doesn’t want to stop this. She’s known him a month now and she hopes she’s got his measure by now. She’s not going to marry the man tomorrow, but maybe there’s something here that is real and worth pushing further. 

 

Which is when he clears his throat and says, “Can I ask you something?”

 

He doesn’t usually ask if he can ask, so she looks up at him and nods. 

 

“Am I making it up?” his voice is so vulnerable and open and she doesn’t even need to ask what he means. 

 

“No.”

 

“Then why -” he cuts himself off, setting his elbows on his knees as he looks down at the ground before continuing, “I had thought -”

 

“Oh Oliver. I’m sorry that I did that,” she whispers. “I’m a little clumsy, aren’t I. Emotionally, I mean.”

 

He laughs at that, and looks up her, his eyes asking her to continue. 

 

“When I first saw you, you were this hot dude with an awesome dog who was sweet with my daughter. And I fell in lust hard. Like...so hard,” she says, blushing. “Like, I want that dude to jump my bones and give me more babies, kind of hard.”

 

He snorts out in laughter and shakes his head. But his eyes are sparkling now. And he’s blushing, too, which is kind of her favorite. 

 

“When I had a second to think through it, I’m pretty sure I was ovulating those first days because seriously, the lust was intense. My other thought was that maybe you're just that perfect combination that does it for me,” she admits. If she’s going to talk to him about this, she wants to lay it all out on the line. Blushing be damned. 

 

“So you needed time,” he says. 

 

“That was a huge part of it, yeah,” she admits. “Look, there was a part of me that really wanted to trust my instincts and jump in, who knew you were a great guy worth knowing and getting to know better in a lot of different ways. But then I looked at her,” she says nodding over to Augie, “And I had to hit the brakes.”

 

“Are you afraid I’ll be bad for her?” he asks, genuinely curious. 

 

“No. Not so much, though I guess there’s that potential,” she says. “So that weekend? Before the day that I’m pretty sure you were getting ready to ask me out,” she looks at him for confirmation and he nods ruefully. “Augie’s friend asked her to go to a Father/Daughter event. And Augie asked me if you could be her dad for the day.”

 

“Oh,” he says, some further understanding dawning. 

 

“I don’t think she saw you as a father figure necessarily, but you’re a boy who was kinda dad-like with her and she just figured you could take her,” she tries to convey how casual it was for Augie. How it wasn’t some big revelation for the little girl, just an innocent query. 

 

“I probably would have,” he admits. 

 

“Oh I know. But that would have been ridiculous and would have set up way too many expectations for all of us, really. The truth is, I always figured that if I were to date someone seriously, that they wouldn’t know Augie. They’d know she exists, but she wouldn’t know about them. Not for a long time. We’d have months or maybe even years to get to the point where I was comfortable mixing my romantic life with my mom life. But with us? With the way this all started?” she trails off with a shrug.

 

“Yeah, that can’t happen with us,” he says shaking his head. 

 

His eyes are a little sad again, so she places her gloved hand over his and squeezes it, hoping for reassuring. 

 

“No it can’t. But I think I’ve come to terms with that,” she says, smiling shyly at him. Cause this next part is big and she’s pretty sure she knows what his response will be, but until she says it, she’s only got anticipation and a little bit of dread. “I would like to date you, Oliver Queen. If that’s something you’d be interested in trying.”

 

There. Now it’s out there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, you can find me at peacefulboo.tumblr.com if you want to talk Arrow or Moose & Augie and how you wish this chapter was a little bit better. Or Sara Lance being bi and that being important to me. ;) Come say hi!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, thank you for how lovely y'all have been. 
> 
> This took a bit of a detour. Two more chapters after this. Let me know what you think, yeah? 
> 
> As usual, you can come talk to me on tumblr at peacefulboo.tumblr.com

“I would like to date you, Oliver Queen. If that’s something you’d be interested in trying.”

 

He can feel the smile bloom across his face. Cause that’s what it’s doing. It’s blooming. And he can see the second she spots it. The way her own smile grows to match his and her eyes sparkle. 

 

“I’d be interested in that,” is how he answers. 

 

Sure, he has questions - a lot of questions. But he does want this. Badly. 

 

“That’s good,” she replies on an exhale. “I’m glad I don’t have decide if I want to get that Great Dane after all. She’s cute but I don’t think I’m ready for that.”

 

She is never going to not surprise him is she?

 

“What?” he asks, a little bewildered but delighted anyway. 

 

“Oh. Um. I set up an alert so that I’d know when the Humane Society had a Great Dane available. I got an alert yesterday. She’s gorgeous: blue coat, those sad eyes. The whole package.”

 

“Ah.” He’s still not entirely sure what that means. 

 

“I’ve been wrestling with all of _this_ ,” she says as she points back and forth between them, “For weeks, really. I eventually figured I’d either go for it and try with you, or cut off contact and get Augie and I our own dog,” she admits with a whisper. 

 

“That would have...hurt,” he admits just as quietly. He’d known there was a chance of that, he’d definitely known. But wow. Just knowing how close he came to not even getting a real shot makes his chest seize up a little. 

 

“Getting that alert was the push I needed. Even with how cute she is, I knew deep down that wasn’t the way this was going to go,” she reassures him, looking him directly in the eye now. “I kinda really, really want this with you, Oliver. And a month is still stupid soon to be feeling as into you as I am, and there’s a lot to work out. But I want it.”

 

“Me too,” he whispers. Slowly, he puts his arm around her shoulder and pulls her to him. He telegraphs every move, giving her time to decide if a hug is something she wants right now in this park in front of strangers and his dog and her daughter. 

 

She must because she ducks her head into his chest and breathes him in. He drops a kiss to the top of her head in response and they stay like that, holding onto each other as Augie and Moose play in what’s left of the autumn leaves. 

 

It’s cold out, though, and despite her ability to cuddle up to Moose, Augie’s little body just can’t help but get chilled. She eventually wanders over to them, teeth chattering, and leans her head against her mama’s arm. 

 

“You must be cold, kiddo,” Oliver says as he puts his large hand over the top of her tiny head. 

 

“You ready to go inside, baby?” Felicity asks. 

 

“It’s too cold,” is all she says in answer. 

 

Oliver and Felicity pull out of their embrace and gather up Moose’s toys and Augie’s things and then it’s time to go. It’s harder than he expected, letting her go. 

 

“You should get her inside,” he says for lack of something better to say. 

 

“Yeah,” she agrees. 

 

He brushes his hand against her cheek and notes how cold it is. “You should get _both_ of you inside.”

 

“I’m tough,” she replies, squinting her eyes in mock challenge. 

 

“The toughest,” he agrees, not even a little upset with how clear his admiration shows in his voice. There’s no doubt in his mind that Felicity Smoak has handled all that life has handed her with tenacity and a spine of steel. “So what do you say you make Sara’s day and finally let her take Augie for an evening. Maybe we can see each other inside for a change?”

 

“Inside sounds fantastic,” she agrees with a giddy smile. 

 

He beams down at her and makes a choice, leaning down to kiss her cheek, lingering for a bit, just breathing her in again, trying to memorize how she smells and feels. 

 

“See you later,” he murmurs and she nods in agreement, before pressing her own kiss against the scruff at the corner of his mouth. 

 

“See you later,” she repeats. 

 

“See you later, Oliver. Thank you for bringing Moose to me,” Augie says as she wraps her arms around his legs for the first time in forever. 

 

He closes his eyes in surprise. Mostly at how much it means to him. He hadn’t even realized how much he’d missed it. “See you soon, kiddo,” he replies as he reaches down to squeeze her shoulder. 

 

***

 

Once Felicity and Augie are out of sight, Oliver takes Moose for a long run. He sets a much faster pace than he’d normally take with Moose which he’s sure the dog hates him for it, but Oliver has so much excess energy running through his body that he feels like he has to do something with it or he’ll come out of his skin. 

 

The buildings and cars pass by in a blur and all that he’s consciously aware of is his breathing and the feel of the cold air against his cheeks. If he lets himself think about it too much, he will admit he hates the cold now -- Lian Yu froze any nostalgia for snow days and snowball-frozen fingers out of him -- but it doesn’t actually hinder him. 

 

They stop running and head home after an hour of torturing his dog -- “It’s good for you, buddy.” -- but he’s still plagued by a deep seated sense of restlessness, so after a quick rinse off in the shower, he gets dressed in different work out clothes, leaves his exhausted dog sleeping in his corner of the living room, and heads down to the gym. 

 

His original plan is to do a HIIT circuit so he’ll work his muscles until he is too exhausted to think anymore, but as he’s setting up, he spots Amaya through the windows of the studio and remembers that she’s leading a yoga class today. He figures it might be a smarter alternative, given where his head’s at. 

 

He’s right. His muscles are tight from the running and the stretch burns but it’s a productive burn. Amaya’s calm, easy cadence as she moves them through poses is soothing and he finds it much easier to dropped into a more contemplative, relaxed state than he expected. 

It bugs him that his first inclination is to essentially beat himself into submission when he’s anxious. He’s still learning, even after being back for three years and participating in countless hours of therapy, that sometimes he doesn’t have to punish his body and mind when he needs to find a calmer place. Sometimes a gentler coaxing works just as well, or even better, than something more punishing. 

 

He nods his thanks to Amaya, hits the showers, and then heads out for a late lunch with his sister and her boyfriend. 

 

He’s surprised to see Thea already sitting at their table when he gets there. He’s noticed that she’s been trying to be more responsible the last few months or so. When he’d gotten back to Starling, Thea had been a mess. He’s pretty sure they hadn’t had a conversation in those early days where she wasn’t higher than Mt. Everest. It killed him to see his 17-year-old baby sister just as fucked up as he’d been. 

 

She graduated from high school by the skin of her teeth and the power their mother’s money and managed to get into college by the same merits. She got stopped for DUI halfway through her first semester of her freshman year and that was it. Oliver dragged her and his mother to family therapy with him. 

 

It was brutal at first. Thea was all teeth and rusty nails and his mother was beyond brittle. He himself was in the early process of healing, the part where it’s all raw, exposed nerves and painfully vulnerable new skin. 

 

Their progress, individually and as a family has been far from linear. There have been setbacks for each of them and Thea hadn’t really started doing her own work until about six months in, but it’s clear something clicked somewhere, though he can’t name what or when, and now she’s back in school, managing Tommy’s bar part time, and arriving early to lunch dates. 

 

He’s so unbelievably proud of her. 

 

“Hey Speedy,” he says as she stands to hug him. He kisses the top of her head, squeezes her extra tight (mostly because it makes her squeak and roll her eyes), then lets her go and they both sit. 

 

Roy shows up just as they’re taking their seats with an apology and a kiss to Thea’s cheek.

 

It’s been two years since Thea and Roy met while they were both doing community service. Oliver couldn’t stand the punk for the longest time, but at some point, the kid’s earnestness and genuine love for Thea started to eclipse his smart-ass mouth and criminal record. 

 

“Sorry I’m late,” Roy mumbles as he takes a seat and nods Oliver’s way in greeting. 

 

“No problem,” Thea says. “We haven’t even ordered our drinks yet.”

 

The server appears to take their drink order and then Thea’s off and talking about how hard her statistics final is going to be and how she’s regretting studying business. Roy and Oliver make sympathetic noises as she rants and as usual, once she’s talked it out she’s able to relax and the topic of conversation moves to other things. 

 

“You coming to Thanksgiving?” Oliver asks Roy. The guy spends most holidays with them these days so it’s kind of a dumb question, but Oliver is never entirely sure what to talk to Roy about. Neither of them are big on chatting in general and talking to each other is a little like the blind leading the blind.

 

“Yeah. Thea said I could bring Sin again this year so we’ll both be there,” Roy says. 

 

“I like Sin,” Oliver says with a grin. The girl obviously gives zero fucks about not knowing the rules of decorum. Watching her bounce off his mother is always fun. It reminds him of Sara when she was younger, only even more brash, if that’s possible. 

 

“You just like watching mom react to her,” Thea says, rolling her eyes.

 

“Exactly,” he confirms. Oliver really does love his mother, and she’s actually learned to be incredibly gracious with the motley crew he and Thea bring with them to holidays, but that doesn’t mean watching her eyes perceptibly widen at Sin’s (usually intentionally unintentional) gaffes isn’t hilarious. 

 

“What about you? You dragging anyone this year?” Roy asks. 

 

“Sara will come for dinner since the Lances tend to eat before noon, and she’s bringing Amaya. Tommy and Laurel should be there most of the day, too,” he says with a shrug. There are two names he’d love to add to that list but it’s not in the cards for this year. And given how she’s talked about the holiday, he isn’t sure if she’ll ever be down to spend it with them. 

 

“So there’s no one else?” Thea’s eyes are too wide and her voice too high for it to just be a general question. 

 

“What has Sara been saying?” he asks. 

 

“Amaya, actually. I took one of her classes with Sara and afterwards she was telling me about a cute girl and her daughter, and Moose,” Thea states. “Sara cut her off and changed the subject and I know that was a few weeks ago so maybe there’s nothing there, but it sounded like a big deal,” Thea says and Oliver can catch the hurt she feels at not being included, just underneath the surface. 

 

“It’s complicated, Thea. I promise I’m not hiding anything from you, but until this morning we’ve barely been more than acquaintances,” he says trying to reassure that he wasn’t keeping a big secret from her. 

 

“Until this morning?” she asks, sitting up straighter in interest. Of course she noticed that. 

 

“Yeah. We’re gonna go out soon. See how it goes,” he tells her and once again he can’t suppress the smile that blossoms on his damn face. 

 

“Tell us about her,” Thea says making grabby hands. 

 

Oliver sighs and tries to decide where to start. He feels very protective of Felicity and Augie both. 

 

“She’s amazing,” is what he ends up saying.

 

“Duh, Ollie. You’re into her so of course she is,” Thea says as she makes a gesture urging him to continue. 

 

“No she’s really amazing. She’s smart and kind and tells dumb jokes like Dad used to,” he says. He debates whether to tell her that Felicity works at QC but decides to hold off since Thea is liable to drop in on Felicity the second she realizes that she can. Yeah, he’s going to avoid that for now. The punch to the arm that Thea will give him once she realizes that he held back that tidbit of information on purpose will be worth it to give Felicity some more time to adjust. 

 

“Is she hot,” Thea asks. 

 

Oliver can’t even roll his eyes at the question because, she is. “She’s beautiful. Not necessarily the type people would expect from me, but she’s beautiful.” 

 

“Hmmm,” Thea hums in response. “There’s a kid involved, too,” Thea continues. 

 

“Augie. She’s 4, almost 5-years-old,” Oliver says and he’s not surprised to realize he has a goofy grin on his face. “She and Moose are adorable together. She’s tiny for her age and he’s Moose so they look ridiculous together, but he’s good with her and she was in love with him the second she saw him.”

 

“Aww. That sounds adorable,” Thea says. 

 

Roy, who’s been silent this whole time just raises his eyebrows and says, “Kids. They’re cute but kind of a lot to take on.”

 

Oliver isn’t going to ask how Roy knows this. 

 

“They are. But that’s why we’re planning to take it slow. Kids get confused pretty easily and we want to avoid creating too much chaos in her life for as long as we can.”

 

“But if you get what you want, and this Felicity chick thinks you’re worth sticking around for, then you’d be an insta-dad?” Roy asks. He has such a way with words. 

 

Oliver glares at him and Thea changes the subject but Oliver can’t get himself to refocus on the conversation. Roy isn’t wrong. If Oliver ends up with Felicity and the relationship is successful -- and for him successful would mean long-term or even permanent -- then he’d eventually end up being a dad-like-figure to Augie. That terrifies him, yes, but it also excites him in a way that he finds intriguing. He isn’t interested in borrowing trouble, and that day is still a long way off, but he’d also be foolish to ignore Augie and what a future with her mother would really mean. The girl is precious, much like her mother, and he’s coming to terms (and will probably have to do so again and again) with the fact that if he gets what he wants, Augie will be in his life for a long, long time. Maybe forever. He’ll get to watch her grow and learn her moods and teach her things alongside her mother. It’s so far out of the realm of what he’s thought would be in store for him that he finds himself a little at sea when he allows himself actually think about it. 

 

“Ollie!” Thea’s voice is sharp enough to indicate that it’s not the first time she’s tried to get his attention. 

 

Oliver jerks his head up in acknowledgement and refocuses on the here and now. 

 

***

 

By the end of the day Oliver is so exhausted that he falls asleep reading, something that doesn’t happen very often. He startles awake to the book smacking him in the face and stirs long enough to strip out of his clothes and crawl under the covers. Which means he hasn’t had a chance to talk to Sara before she gets home from her date with Amaya. 

 

Like always, he wakes before dawn, takes Moose out for a short walk to do his business, then heads back to the apartment. 

 

Sara accosts him the second he walks through the door. 

 

“Does this text mean what I think it means?” Sara asks, holding her phone up in Oliver’s face and shaking it enthusiastically. He rarely gets to her see her this excited so he finds it funnier than he would if Thea was doing the same thing. 

 

“Stop moving so I can see it,” he says, knowing full well what it’s about. 

 

Sara pulls the phone down and backhands him in the chest with the same hand. “It says that my best friend is a butt who didn’t tell me that he’s going on a date with the girl he’s been totally gone for for more than a month.” She punctuates every few words with a light blow. He’s pretty lucky Sara let him sleep at all if she’s this jazzed.

 

After a few blows her bony knuckles start to hurt a little, so Oliver grabs her hand and gives her a pointed glare. “Ow,” he deadpans. 

 

“Oh shut up. How did you not tell me about this?” she says, and now the naked hurt is evident in her voice. 

 

Oliver immediate stops all teasing, slumps down on the couch and pulls her down next to him. She resists for just a moment before relenting, allowing him to pull her down into his side. 

 

He’d thought about texting her himself, or even calling her, but honestly he wanted to talk to her in person. He had figured he’d wait up for her and talk to her while Amaya took her nightly shower, but there was no keeping his eyes open once it got dark. He was such an old man sometimes. 

 

“I’m sorry,” he says sincerely. “I wanted to talk to you about it in person.”

 

He can tell from the look in her eyes that she gets it. They spent years only talking to each other or others when they were physically there with them. It’s still really hard for either of them to do any serious communication over the phone or text. 

 

“I told her I was free on Friday,” Sara tells him. 

 

“Thank you,” he replies. 

 

“Of course,” she replies. 

 

They sit in silence for awhile before Sara turns to him and says, “You know I’m happy for you, right?”

 

“Of course,” is all he replies, knowing that she has more to say by the tone of her voice. 

 

“I just, I want this for you and I’ve been hoping you guys would work it out for as long as you’ve been hoping it would. But I might be having a hard time with the idea of not being your...” Sara searches for the right word and fails to come up with it. 

 

Oliver gets what she’s saying, though, ‘cause he’s felt the same way before. But every single time, they’ve weathered the storm, they’ve stayed close and connected and he doesn’t think that will change this time. He and Sara bonded as deeply as they did out of necessity, but now it’s a connection they choose over and over again. And they’ll continue to choose it forever. He really believes that. 

 

He’s not sure how healthy their bond is, but it’s there and it’s always been more helpful than not for both of them. The truth is, their situation is out of the ordinary and they’ve both accepted that. Oliver dating will change their dynamic, it just will. But it won’t kill their bond. Sara is more than his best friend. She’s his touchstone. He doesn’t see that changing anytime soon, if ever. 

 

From the way Felicity has talked about Sara over the last few weeks, she seems to get it, but only time will tell if her laid back approach will continue as their relationship progresses. As with everything in their relationship and life, they’ll have to take it as it goes. All Oliver can do is keep communicating with her and encouraging her to do the same. 

 

“You’ll always be my Sara,” he supplies. 

 

“I dunno,” Sara says, teasing tone back in her voice, “Sara Diggle may give me a run for my money.”

 

“She is pretty adorable,” he agrees with a wink. 

 

***

 

Augie wakes with a bad cold on Wednesday morning, so Felicity texts Oliver to let him know they’ll have to skip their time in the park today. He’s bummed, but he knows this time of year means sick kids. He just has to hope the kiddo feels well enough for Sara to watch her Friday night. 

 

He texts her before he can really think it through:

 

_I would like to swing by with sick-kid supplies if that’d be helpful. Soup, kleenex with lotion and oj._

 

It takes about ten minutes for her to answer, which he understands given the circumstances but still leaves him a little nervous. 

 

**Oh. That’s sweet. I think we’ll be okay.**

 

_If you’re sure. I really don’t mind and would like to help if you want it._

The pause between texts this time is even longer and he wonders if he should have just let it go. 

 

**I haven’t been able to make it to the store so if you’re going it would be helpful.**

 

 _I’m going. Is there anything else you need?_

 

**All the things you’ve listed are great. Maybe some vap-o-rub if they have it? And some Emergen-C for me? I know it’s mostly bogus but it makes me feel like I’m trying. :/**

 

_I’ll be there in an hour or so. Txt me if you need anything else._

 

**Thx. I appreciate it. Just be forewarned that Augie is a mess, the house is a mess, and I’m a pretty big mess, so I probably will only be able to meet you at the door and grab the supplies. I hope that’s okay.**

 

Of course it’s okay. He hardly expects to show up and have Felicity or Augie entertain him. He’s a little sad that she feels the need to spell it out to him, but he’s known enough people who would expect to be payed back in time if they did a favor for a mom with a sick kid, so he swallows his pride and decides he’s just glad that she’s comfortable asking for what she needs. 

 

He spends a ridiculous amount of time in the stuffed animal section of the drug store, waffling between getting her a stuffed camel named Campbell that reminds him a lot of Augie for a reason he can’t quite put his finger on, and a super soft gray bunny named Franklin. In the end he purchases both, deciding to give her the bunny today and save the camel for a later date. After dropping by a bistro for a two quarts of chicken noodle soup, he heads over to Felicity’s for the first time.

 

Trepidation rises as he walks up the steps to a townhome that he estimates to be around 20 years old. It looks very similar to all the other homes in the area with its well kept gray siding and modern feel. The bright green door stands out, though, and he finds himself smiling at how cheerful it looks against the gray. He rapts the door with his knuckles, opting to forgo the doorbell in case Augie’s asleep. 

 

Felicity wasn’t wrong. She answers the door in gray sweatpants that are at least two sizes too big, a baggie long sleeved t-shirt with a coffee stain on it and her hair hastily pulled back in a messy top knot that he’s sure is only meant to keep her hair out of her face, not look sexily tousled. She has no makeup on, dark circles under her eyes, and the small smile she’s managed is polite and exhausted at best and brittle and impatient at worst. 

 

Maybe he shouldn’t have insisted on coming. No woman in his life save Sara, and maybe Thea when she was much younger, has ever let him see them like this and he can’t imagine that she’s thrilled with the idea even if he doesn’t give a rats ass if she’s presentable or not. She can use the assist so he wants to provide it. 

 

“Hey Oliver,” she says and she sounds as beat up and exhausted as she looks. 

 

“Hi,” he replies. 

 

“I really do appreciate it,” she replies with a sigh. 

 

“Anytime,” he says as he smiles encouragingly at her. “The soup and everything else is in here. There’s a stuffed bunny in there, too. If it’s okay for her to have it maybe you can give it to her the next time she’s awake.”

 

He tries to sound nonchalant, like he didn’t spend a stupid amount of time deciding on the gift. He just doesn’t want her to feel obligated to give it to Augie if there’s a reason that she chooses not to. 

 

“That was sweet. Of course she can have it. It’s adorable,” she says as she peeks into the reusable grocery bag that he’s still holding. She hesitates for a moment before asking, “Do you want to come in and give it to her? You don’t have to, it’d probably be smarter for you not to, and I’m not kidding about her being a bit of a mess and the house being a disaster, but if you can look at me with that look you just gave me when I’m pretty sure I look horrifying, then maybe you can handle the rest of it.” She punctuates her works with a deep sigh and shrug. 

 

“You are beautiful, Felicity Smoak. Always,” he says. He’d hug her but his hands are still full. “And I’d be glad to take this stuff in and say hi to Augie, but only if it’s what you really want. Don’t worry about me being offended if the last thing you need is a stranger intruding your domain when you aren’t ready for them.”

 

“No. It’s okay. Come in,” she says as she moves away from the door and deeper into the home. The shades are drawn so the only light is coming from the hood over the stove. He spots Augie lying on the couch, though she’s little more than a lump curled up under a pile of blankets, her curly hair a frizzy mess all around her head. She keeps sniffing and her breathing is more labored than he’d like. Poor thing is pretty sick. He puts the supplies on the kitchen counter and pulls the bunny out of the bag. 

 

Felicity leads him over to where Augie is resting and he takes a seat on the coffee table across from the little girl. 

 

“Hey kiddo,” he murmers. 

 

“Oliver?” she asks, confusion heavy in her voice. “Moose?” She looks around for the dog and then sinks back into the pillows with disappointment when he isn’t anywhere to be seen 

 

“Sorry kiddo,” Oliver says feeling bad that he didn’t think about bringing the dog. “He’s at home. But I brought you a little gift to help you feel better,” he says as he pulls the bunny from behind his back. “His name is Franklin.”

 

Augie reaches out to take the bunny and smiles slightly. “So soft,” is her only comment as she pulls the toy closer to her chest and snuggles in. 

 

“Yeah. I hope he helps,” Oliver tells her. 

 

She whispers, “Thank you,” and then closes her eyes again to fall asleep clutching the bunny. 

 

Oliver takes a moment to watch her, glad to see the way some of her hair flutters as she breathes since he can’t really see her chest rise and fall under all the blankets. 

 

“You’ll tell me if she gets worse?” he asks Felicity when he takes his eyes off the little girl and looks up at her mom. 

 

“If you want me to,” she says with a nod. 

 

“I want you to. Or if you need anything else. Even if you just need a break,” he tells her with all sincerity. He wants her to know that no matter what, she really doesn’t have to do this alone. 

 

“Okay,” she agrees and the way her shoulders fall with something akin to relief, he thinks she just might actually mean it. “She’ll probably sleep for the next hour or so,” she says, biting her lip like she’s thinking through something. 

 

“Okay. I should get out of your hair?” he asks, unsure if that’s what she wants. 

 

“Maybe. Or maybe you can stay for a little bit and I can get a shower without worrying that she’ll stop breathing?” she says it hesitantly like she thinks she’s asking too much. 

 

“Of course, Felicity. Anything you need,” he says. “Anything.”

 

And he means that, too. 

 

“I’ll be quick, 15 minutes max.” 

 

“Take your time. Please.”

 

“15 minutes,” she repeats. 

 

“Okay,” he answers knowing that she’s not rushing on his account. This is the first time she’s leaving him alone with her daughter. Her sick daughter whose wheezing may be more because of junk in her throat and sinuses than in the bronchioles but is still extremely disconcerting to listen to. 

 

Felicity doesn’t say anything else, just nods and heads up the stairs to where he assumes the bedrooms are. 

 

He sits on the coffee table for a few more minutes before getting restless and with little internal debate decides to do what quiet clean up he can. He’s pretty good at being quiet. He gathers up the few tissues that didn’t make it into the small trashcan next to the couch. Then he rinses the dishes in the sink, careful not to clink them against the metal basin, and loads them into the dishwasher. He puts the soup in the fridge and puts the rest of the supplies on the breakfast bar for Felicity to deal with. The living space isn’t actually too big a mess, probably because Augie’s been mostly contained to the couch. 

 

He’s washing his hands when Felicity comes back down the stairs. She’s wearing a better fitting long sleeved, soft-looking royal blue t-shirt, and some plaid flannel pj’s that are still baggie but she isn’t swimming in them. Her hair is damp and he wants to tell her to take the time to blow it dry if she wants to, but she surprises him by walking right up to him and pulling him into a hug and pushing up on her socked toes to kiss him on the cheek. 

 

“Thank you,” she whispers in his ear. 

 

“You’re welcome,” he says as he holds her close and revels in the feel of her in his arms while resting his chin on the top of her head, taking comfort in the comfort she’s obviously taking in him. 

 

After a few moments, she pulls away. That small smile is back, but this time there’s no wariness or impatience to be seen. Just gratitude and...something else. Could it be admiration? He isn’t entirely sure. 

 

“I should go,” he says. Because he should. As much as he’d like to stay and help her help Augie, that’s not his place yet. They can pull it off for an hour, because Felicity was desperate for a moment to breathe and a chance to wash off the germs, but they’re not far enough along in their relationship for him to do much more than supply runs and giving her short breaks and they both know it. 

 

But he can feel it coming. It’s on the horizon. It’s amazing and sets his teeth on edge at the same time. Which is why he reluctantly leaves once he assures Felicity that he wants to be updated if there are changes and is more than willing to do another supply run or sit with Augie for a bit if need be. 

 

***

Thanksgiving is nice. Everyone seems to have woken up in a decent mood (it helps to have the food provided by someone else, Oliver imagines), his mother smiles at a couple of Sin’s gaffes and when Tommy and Laurel announce that they’re expecting a kid in the coming year, Oliver is nothing but happy for them. 

 

Laurel will be a great mom. And Tommy, well it will be interesting to see Tommy as a dad. He thinks he might be decent at it if he pushes himself to be. 

 

He texts back and forth with Felicity throughout the day and by the end, she admits that she’s not likely to be able to keep their date for Friday. He’s disappointed but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t see it coming. Augie is pretty sick and if she doesn’t get better through the night, Felicity’s going to have to take her to Urgent Care. The day after Thanksgiving. 

 

That’s going to be miserable. 

 

He shows Sara the text cancelling their date and she frowns in sympathy. 

 

“Poor kid,” she says. 

 

“Yeah,” he agrees. 

 

“Has she put her in a steamy bathroom with eucalyptus or vicks in the bath?” 

 

“She did that a few hours ago. Said it helped a little but not as much as she was hoping,” he replies with a frown. He’s starting to worry. Felicity doesn’t seem like the type to worry overmuch. If she’s getting this concerned then he imagines that Augie must be pretty bad. 

 

They get pulled back into the main conversation when Moira catches Oliver’s eye and gives him a questioning look. He smiles and shakes his head to let her know he doesn’t need her involvement. She frowns at him but turns to talk to Tommy and Laurel again. 

 

***  
Oliver gets a text from Felicity at midnight telling him that she’s taking Augie into the ED because her wheezing seems to be getting deeper and she’s had two coughing jags that have ended in her throwing up. Oliver pops out of bed immediately, pulls on some jeans and a thermal shirt, throws on his jacket, gloves, scarf and boots, and then heads to Starling General where they have a 24-hour-pediatric emergency room. He grabs Campbell the camel from the passenger seat where he’d left it on Wednesday and heads into the hospital. 

 

He texts Felicity when he gets there but she doesn’t answer for about half an hour, which makes it a little hard for him to breathe. What the hell is he doing here? They haven’t even gone on a date yet and here he is, all concern and panic. But what he’s starting to realize is that there _have_ been a lot of dates and those dates have included Augie. He’s been spending more time with that little girl than he’s spent with any child other than Thea. He kind of adores her and he worries about her. Cause she’s little and sick and he cares a lot. 

 

And he cares about her mama and the worry and terror she must be feeling. 

 

They don’t need to go on an official date for him to feel concern over a sick kid. 

 

He gets a text from Felicity at 1:00 am and sighs in relief when she says that Augie got seen right away and that she’s ten minutes into a breathing treatment and already seems to be breathing easier. 

 

And does he want to come back and see them. Of course he does. 

 

He’s pointed toward a small room with an open door, close to the nurses’ station. He watches them from the doorway for a moment. Felicity is semi-reclining on the bed, holding Augie gently against her chest as the little girl breathes in the vapor. The mask on her face has little fishes on it, and he listens as Felicity tells Augie a story about mermaids and fish and a turtle named Spike. He knows objectively that they both look awful, but to him they’re both a sight for sore eyes.

 

Felicity must sense his presence at last, because she looks up and gestures for him to come in before bending over to whisper something in Augie’s ear. He watches them for a few more moments from his perch in the doorway. Augie’s breathing is still very labored and she looks completely worn out, but she seems calmer than he was picturing and he’s glad for that. 

 

“Hey,” Felicity greets him once he steps all the way into the room. 

 

“Hey,” he replies. He watches as a couple of tears escape from Felicity’s eyes as she looks up at him, all the panic and fear and relief blaringly obvious in her face. He takes a couple of steps across the room and drops a kiss on Felicity’s brow and then on Augie’s. 

 

Aguie just waves a few fingers as she looks up at him for a second. Then she closes her eyes and snuggles back into her mother’s chest.

 

“You didn’t have to come,” Felicity whispers above the hum of the nebulizer. 

 

“I wanted to,” he says. Wanted isn’t really the right word but it’s the closest to what he felt as he’s got. 

 

“She has an infection but they started antibiotics and it should clear up. They’re going to keep her at least six hours to see how this treatment goes and give her another one in a few hours if this doesn’t help.”

 

“She’ll be okay,” he says, trying to convince himself as much as Felicity. 

 

“I think so, yeah,” her voice cracks and he would really like to be able to hug her. Instead he pulls up the empty rolling stool that doctors use, since there’s not another chair in the small room, and holds Felicity’s hand in his. Felicity and Augie both doze through the rest of the treatment. 

 

Augie wakes up a little later obviously bugged by the mask she’s still wearing and the pulse-ox that beeps when her O2 levels get too low. Felicity wakes when she feels her daughter stirring and tries to soothe her. The little girl is obviously scared and disoriented and once her mama gets her settled again, Oliver holds up the camel out of Augie’s sight and gives Felicity a questioning look. She sighs at him with a “You really didn’t have to” look, and then nods her permission. 

 

“Augie, I got you another toy but he’s kind of silly,” he says. Cause Campbell the camel is ridiculous. 

 

She holds out her hands and he places the animal in them. She squeezes the soft toy a little and turns him in her hands as she peers at the camel with curiosity. Then she runs her fingers over the longer hair at the top of his head and sighs. Her face softens a little and Oliver pretty sure she’s trying to smile behind the mask. 

 

Augie is moved to a larger room an hour later, one with a small, vinyl covered sofa. Oliver leaves them at dawn, so he can go get Felicity breakfast and coffee and give them a little time to themselves. 

 

And maybe because he needs a little break himself. 

 

The first time Sara got sick on the island was a nightmare. He still isn’t sure how she survived other than sheer force of will and the fact that they at least had a clean stream to get water from at the time. It was hell and he was clueless. That either of them survived those early days is a full on miracle. The more he remembers that time, the more restless he’s been feeling in the hospital room. What the fuck is he doing getting so attached to two more people? He’s had a few people die on him: his dad, Slade, Yao Fei. Shado may have lived but she’s all but cut off contact since they got off the Island. There was a period of time, more than a couple of weeks, when they were in captivity, that his interrogators made him believe that Sara was dead as well. 

 

Since he’s been back in Starling, he’s been avoiding forming new attachments, mostly only semi-aware that he’s been doing it. 

 

Sara pointed it out six months ago, so Oliver brought it up to his therapist. There was agreement that he was doing it to protect himself and that he was ready to start branching out. He’d started slowly, finally going to have a beer with Diggle, being friendlier with Amaya than Sara’s previous significant others. Even encouraging Thea to bring Roy to more of their lunches. 

 

But this? This was a lot. It was a bigger test than he’s really ready for, if he’s being honest. Seeing a little kid he cares about in a hospital bed, seeing her mom, who he admires so intensely, keeping it together in the face of all that fear and stress and worry, it’s harder than he he would have imagined. 

 

But he doesn’t want to run. Retreat? Yes. Take some breathers to figure out how involved he should be? Yes. Call Dr. Castellano to see if he can get a session in soon, sure. But he doesn’t want to run. He wants to be there for them both. 

 

And that’s something. 

 

So he gets breakfast burritos for him and Felicity along with a large coffee for her and some OJ he can water down for himself and he heads back to the hospital. 

 

Augie’s still sleeping when he gets in. Felicity’s sitting in a chair by her side, holding her hand and just staring at her little face. He clears his throat softly to get her attention and waggles a burrito at her. Her eyes widen, then she kisses Augie’s hand, and joins him on the small couch. She tears into her food, which is the first sign that Oliver has that she’s feeling pretty good about Augie’s chances of a quick recovery. After the first few bites, she slows down with a contented sigh, leans back into the corner of the couch and sighs. 

 

“Thank you,” she says. 

 

“You’re welcome.”

 

They eat the rest of their food, she downs most of her coffee in a few gulps, and once the food wrappers are thrown away, Oliver grabs Felicity’s hand, intertwining their fingers together. And he decides to ask what he’s wanted to ask for weeks. 

 

“Why are you doing this all on your own?” Which is his way of asking, _Where’s her father in all this?_

 

Felicity closes her eyes and breathes in and out through her nose for a few beats before saying, “Jacob is in Japan.”

 

That’s not an answer he was expecting. At all. 

 

“Japan?”

 

“Last I knew, yeah. He was playing baseball at BC. He’s brilliant at writing and history but had some issues with math. I was tutoring him to make some money on the side. He was hilarious and smart and fun to be with. I guess we were doing something more than hooking up but less than dating each other exclusively. He’s from the Dominican Republic and the one thing he’d wanted all his life was to play baseball. And he was really, really good at playing baseball. He moved to Japan to play pro two weeks before I found out I was pregnant.” She shrugs. 

 

“Does he know about her?”

 

“He does. We talk every once in awhile. She gets gifts from him sometimes and he sends money fairly regularly, he’s good enough that he pulls a decent salary.” Felicity smiles wryly. “Truth is, I didn’t ask him to come back, to give up that chance to fulfill his dream, and he didn’t offer to,” she tells him, resignation thinning out her voice. 

 

“Sounds like a shitty situation.”

 

“It could be worse,” she admits, but doesn’t elaborate. 

 

“Maybe,” he replies. “Has she met him?”

 

“He came and met her when she was a baby, but that’s the only time.”

 

Oliver looks at the little girl and wonders how that could be true. Then he remembers who he was pre-island, and he can see it. He wonders if he would have stayed halfway across the world as a 22-year-old, too. 

 

Augie wakes and the focus shifts to getting her water and helping her get comfortable and making sure she knows she’s loved and cared for. 

 

***  
She is released two days later, which is longer than they’d been expecting but shorter than they’d feared. Oliver follows them home and makes sure that they’re settled in before heading back to his apartment, falling into bed, and sleeping for a solid five hours before his phone beeps loudly. He had turned it up full blast so he wouldn’t miss a call or text from Felicity. 

 

**Thank you. She’s doing well. I think we’re going to crash out now and wanted to update you before we go to sleep. Hope I didn’t wake you.**

 

Like he’d tell her. 

 

_I’m glad to hear it. Let me know if you need anything. I’ll swing by in the morning if that’s okay with you. I can bring more supplies if you need them._

 

***

 

Like children often do, Augie bounces back quickly. She’s back to herself within two weeks, though Felicity is reluctant to take her out in the cold for long periods of time. That means no play time in the park with Moose which Oliver can tell is pretty devastating. He takes Moose over to see her a handful of times and he can tell by the dog’s deep barking that he’s as excited to see the little girl and she is to see him. They don’t get to run around like they are used to, but Oliver and Felicity move all the furniture to the walls so there’s at least some extra room for them to play. They’re sitting at the breakfast bar watching Moose and Augie roll the ball to each other back and forth across the room, Augie using her foot primarily and Moose using his nose, when Felicity takes Oliver’s hand in hers. 

 

“So I set up babysitting with Sara for Saturday,” she murmurs as she lifts his hand to her lips. “She and Amaya are going to stay here. As late as we need. I’m thinking dinner, then maybe head over to your place...” 

 

Oliver whips his head up to look her directly in the eyes. At this point it’s been hand holding and kisses on foreheads and cheeks. He kissed the corner of her mouth the other day, mostly because she wasn’t paying attention and moved at the last second to say something to him. But that had been the extend of it. 

 

“Are you asking me to put out on the first date, Ms. Smoak?” he teases. 

 

“It hardly feels like a first date. But yes, sir, I most certainly am. We have been way too chaste up till now. It’s driving me a little bat-shit,” she tells him with an exasperated look. 

 

He laughs out loud at that. And not a small quiet laugh, but a full on guffaw. It feels really good. 

 

The laugh pulls a huge smile from her, and he can’t help himself. He leans over and kisses her full on the mouth. It lingers a little longer than is likely appropriate in front of her child and his dog, but it’s all sunshine and teeth and they can’t even deepen it much because their smiles are too wide and stupid. He pulls back slightly, leaning his forehead against hers, and then pecks her once more, quick but firm and then just stays there for a moment breathing with her. 

 

Saturday cannot come soon enough.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note the rating change. This gets pretty explicit. Definitely didn't expect it to go this way when I started writing this cute fluff fic a month and change ago. Let me know what you think, yeah. 
> 
> All thanks to B for helping me wrangle this a bit. You're the best!
> 
> Also! Thanks to A for leading me straight to the pool scene in the pub and for letting me talk out the beginning of the scene in the apartment enough that I could finally start to see it. Thank you, thank you!

They only see each other once before Saturday. Oliver and Sara set up a meeting with Walter to see if he’d be willing to help them finance a parkour gym on the edge of The Glades. They hope to get enough rich assholes like Oliver, who have too much time and money on their hands, to sign up for memberships and then provide scholarships for low income teens who aren’t really down with group activities but have excess energy to burn. 

 

“Parkour gyms are notoriously expensive since you can’t have very many people working on an apparatus at once and the point of parkour is to use the whole space. Memberships can run into multiple thousands per year and most of the kids we’re looking to serve can’t afford even $50 bucks a month,” Sara tells Walter as Oliver looks on. 

 

“How do you plan to handle the elite who don’t want ‘ruffian’ teenagers taking up their gym time?” Walter asks. 

 

“We sell it as charity,” Oliver admits bluntly. “It’ll be part of the attraction for some.”

 

“And how will that make the kids feel?” Walter asks pointedly. 

 

The conversation devolves and evolves from there, highlighting a naivete in Oliver and Sara that they weren’t aware could even still exist in them given everything they’ve been through. It’s frustrating enough that Oliver considers scrapping the whole idea, but Walter assures them that they have the seed of a decent idea, they just need to work on it more. A lot more. 

 

After getting grilled by Walter, Oliver wants nothing more than to see Felicity. So he leads Sara down to the 23rd floor. Felicity’s in the bullpen, partially hanging over a half-wall, talking to a middle-aged woman with a full head of gray hair. She leans over to point out something on the woman’s computer screen, says something with her eyes squinting as she peers at what’s on the screen, then throws her head back as she laughs. The early afternoon sunlight is just strong enough to bathe her in it’s weak light, catching some of her blonde highlights. 

 

She’s so unbelievably beautiful in this light, confident and happy and so full of life that he has to swallow down his own grin. 

 

“You look like you’ve seen a unicorn,” Sara says. 

 

“Look at her,” he tells her, pointing toward Felicity as if looking at her can explain everything. 

 

Because for him it does. It’s not just about how gorgeous she looks in a clingy, green turtleneck and long knit skirt that covers nearly every inch of her body yet sets off her curves in such a way that his brain short-circuits for a few heartbeats. It’s how her employees smile with her, and how she carries herself and how her smile widens just a smidge when she spots them from across the room. 

 

She jerks her head toward her office and they head in that direction. He isn’t entirely sure how to greet her, and is pleasantly surprised when she reaches up for a hug once they’re inside her office, even though her door is still wide open. Sure, she hugs Sara, too, but there’s an ease to her greeting that relaxes him. She’s not hiding what they are to each other, even here at work. 

 

“You here for your meeting with Walter?” she asks. 

 

“Yeah. Just finished,” he replies. 

 

“How’d it go?”

 

“Okay. He gave us a lot to think about. Mostly asked us to really think about why we want to do it the way we proposed and encouraged us to be clear about our motives and our expectations.”

 

“Important things,” she agreed 

 

“We’ll take some time to think it over, research similar programs and then come back to him with a more detailed plan if we decide we want to move forward,” Sara says. She sounds tired and Oliver can relate. 

 

Felicity has to get back to work so they say their goodbyes, but he’d be lying if he said their parting hug wasn’t just a little tighter and a little longer than the their hello hug. He kisses the corner of her mouth and brushes a stray hair behind her ear. 

 

“See you Saturday,” she whispers. 

 

“For sure.” 

 

***

Oliver drives Sara and Moose over to Felicity’s as the sun sets. 

 

“If you don’t stop fidgeting while you’re driving, I’m going to jump out of this car and take my chances. You’re driving me nuts,” Sara mutters as she places a hand on his right arm. He immediately stops tapping the gear shifter and his left leg stills. He’d hoped that driving would be enough to distract him but there’s no such luck. 

 

“There is nothing to be nervous about, Ollie,” Sara reminds him. 

 

“It’s not nervous so much as...” he trails off. So much as what? He can’t seem to pinpoint what he’s feeling. Anxious, sure. But not the bad kind, really. Just ready to be there already. Chomping at the bit to be with Felicity, just the two of them for the first time ever. Ready to know her better, ready for her to know him. 

 

“God, you need to get laid. Y’all should consider skipping the date and just head to the apartment right away,” Sara says, only kind of joking. 

 

“Fuck you, Sara,” he bites out. It’s not that he hasn’t considered it, or that he thinks Felicity wouldn’t necessarily be up for it, but the fact is, he wants this date. He wants to talk to her and eat with her and see what she’s like with a beer or two in her. And yes, sex is probably going to happen tonight and he’s pretty jonesed about that, too. It’s just not all he wants. 

 

“Nope,” she replies and he rolls his eyes. 

 

The rest of the drive flies by and soon enough, Oliver is knocking on Felicity’s door. 

 

When she opens it he is once again struck by how she can bowl him over with just a smile. 

 

“Hey guys!” she greets them. This time she hugs Sara first, tight and quick, then pats Moose on the head before turning to Oliver. He pulls her into his arms and just holds her for a moment. Sara guides Moose past them to greet Augie inside, but Oliver isn’t ready to let go and Felicity seems just as content to stay there, her arms wrapped around him as they breathe each other in. 

 

“You look amazing,” he murmurs in her ear before he lets go and lets her step back. She’s wearing a low cut, long-sleeved t-shirt, that he’s pretty sure is actually a bodysuit, with a short gray skirt and thick purple tights. She’s also got some high heeled black mary-janes that remind him of high school and make his mouth go dry. Her hair is down, which he hasn’t gotten to see too often, and he loves the way the blue and blonde strands peek out amongst the rest of her dark hair. 

 

“Thank you. I’m sorry the tights prevent easy access, but it’s not my fault we started dating during winter,” she jokes with a wink, startling a laugh out of him. 

 

“Between you and Sara, I’m going to die before the night is over,” he tells her, dropping a kiss to her brow and slinging his arm around her shoulder. 

 

“Do I want to know what Sara said?” she asks with wide eyes. 

 

“Probably not. You’d likely take the suggestion and then we’d never get to eat tonight,” he tells her. 

 

“Now I’m curious,” she says, taking his hand and leading him into the living room where Sara, Moose and Augie are already hanging out on the floor. 

 

“Hi Oliver!” Augie yells to him as soon as she sees him. The little girl hops up, runs to him, jumping into his arms. Oliver’s ready and swings her up to the ceiling before pulling the giggling girl into a hug.

 

“Hey kiddo,” he greets her as she wraps her arms around his neck and lays her head on his shoulder for a moment. He’d first really hugged the little girl after she’d gotten home from the hospital. Her mom had been upstairs taking a shower when she’d woken from her nap, scared and disoriented, one of the not-so-fun side effects of her medication. As soon as she saw him, she started crying a little harder, but instead of running away, she’d crawled into his lap and held on for dear life. It had taken full minute of snot-filled sobbing for her to calm down and that’s how Felicity had found them; Oliver leaning back on the couch with his arms full of a still-hiccupping Augie. He’d been about to apologize when Felicity had sunk down onto the couch beside them and snuggled with them. 

 

“You don’t ever have to apologize for comforting my daughter when she’s sad or scared, Oliver,” Felicity had reassured him. 

 

Now Augie expects hugs from him. And she adores it when he holds her over his head and flies her around the room. Her giggles are pretty much the best thing in the world in those moments. 

 

After a few quiet beats, Augie sits up in his arms, leans over to kiss her mama on her cheek and then wiggles out of his arms. He lets her slide to the ground and shakes his head as she runs back to Moose. 

 

“You guys can go now!” she tells them. Both Felicity and Sara have prepared her for tonight and she’s ready to hang out with Sara and Moose for the evening. Hopefully she’ll have an easy time going to sleep for Sara, too. She’s only ever had Felicity or her Nana put her to bed before, so no one’s entirely sure how it’s going to go. 

 

“You heard the boss,” Felicity tells him. “Goodnight, baby,” she calls to Augie before grabbing her coat from where it lies on the back of the couch, pulling on her scarf and gloves, and then leading Oliver out the door to where their Uber is waiting for them. 

 

Oliver had considered something more creative than the brew pub he takes her to, maybe going to see the lights at the zoo, or going ice skating, but in the end, all he really wants to do is sit close to her while they eat and just be together. Plus, most of the fun things that he’d thought of would be even more fun with Augie there. Which is a completely bizarre thing for him to have to consider, but it’s the truth. 

 

The pub has good beer and better food and the booths in the back are quiet enough that they don’t have to sit next to each other to hear themselves talk, but they do anyway. 

 

“Just fair warning,” Felicity starts as she takes a sip of her oatmeal stout, “I’m kinda a lightweight these days.”

 

“You mean you aren’t one of those wine-moms?” he asks with a wink. 

 

“I enjoy a good glass of wine, but with it just being me, I’m too paranoid to drink more than a glass with Augie in the house,” Felicity admits, “I had a decent tolerance in high school and college before Augie, but those days are long gone.”

 

“Are you a fun drunk?” he asks. 

 

“Oh god, I used to be. You get a couple or five vodka shots in me and I’d be dancing on tables,” she says with a snort. “Now, if I drink more than a pint, I just get sleepy.” She sounds a bit disappointed at the change. 

 

“Yeah, I can’t really hold my alcohol that well anymore either,” he confesses. He found that out the hard way after going partying with Tommy shortly after he got back to Starling. There was vomit involved and everything.

 

“So only one pint for each of us?” she asks. 

 

“Eh, I could probably have two or three if the ABV is low enough, but I’m not going to push my luck tonight,” he tells her with a wink. They have activities planned for later that he’s not going to miss just for the sake of drinking a second beer. 

 

“When did you have your first drink?” she asks. 

 

“I think I was twelve? Tommy and I got into his father’s liquor cabinet. It went about as well as you’d imagine,” he tells her, cringing. “I’m kinda surprised we ever drank again after that. I guess high school makes you stupid. You?”

 

“About the same age. My mom had a party at our apartment and there were pitchers of margaritas. You could barely taste the alcohol and I got so jacked up.” She grimaces, then takes a sip of her beer. “I still can’t smell tequila without getting a little queasy.”

 

“That’s sad. Tequila is the hottest drink,” he teases. 

 

“It may be unconventional, but you can still do body shots with vodka,” she tells him, her eyes sparkling with a knowing look. 

 

“Well fuck,” he murmurs. That’s definitely going on his list at some point. 

 

Their food comes and Felicity’s eyes widen at how good it all looks and smells. Oliver’s pretty sure he could stare at her expressive face forever. In the back of his mind he’s a little amazed at how much she’s opened up in the last two months. When he first met her, she was blunt and frank and honest, but he’s not sure he’d have called her expressive. She’s capable of holding so much back from him and the world. But now? He can see everything filter through on her face as she processes it. 

 

It’s a privilege, he realizes. Getting to see her like this. He hopes he never takes it for granted. 

 

“How is all the food in this city so damn good?” Felicity asks, moaning as she tears into her food. 

 

Her moans go straight to Oliver’s dick and he has to suppress a groan of his own. He’d almost forgotten about her displays of appreciation at Big Belly that first week they met. 

 

“You are absolutely going to kill me before I get to eat,” he says as he kisses her temple with a laugh. 

 

“That’s the plan,” she replies with smirk. 

 

“You’re plan is to kill me? Before we finish dinner?”

 

“Well maybe not kill you but...” her eyes dip down to his lap which is mostly hidden by the napkin he’s placed there by haibt. 

 

“Kill me softly?” he answers with a pointed look. 

 

She snorts in response. Honest to god snorts. 

 

“Why do I find that so adorable?” he asks mostly to himself. 

 

“Dopamine?” she answers with a nonchalant shrug. 

 

Oliver just stares at her for a moment before huffing out a soft laugh kissing her full on the mouth. She tastes like dark beer, cherry lip balm, and felicity. 

 

“Definitely dopamine,” he agrees. 

 

They finish their meal and Oliver is ready to head to the apartment but he keeps catching Felicity eyeing the pool tables. There’s a big game at the university this week, so the pub isn’t as full as it’d normally be on a Saturday and there’s a table empty so Oliver nods to it and raises his eyebrows in challenge. 

 

“I’m really good at pool,” Felicity warns him.

 

“I don’t doubt it, but so am I,” he replies. “Ladies first.”

 

“If you’re sure,” Felicity says. 

 

They grab their cues and Felicity racks the balls. She pockets two of her balls on the break. 

 

She sets up each shot slowly and deliberately and he can’t help but hang back and just watch her. Her legs look amazing; those damn mary janes and their sky-high heels showcasing her calves and strong thighs, even with her tights. As she continues to call balls and then pocket one right after another, Oliver’s grin just grows wider and wider. She’s started off dead serious, all of her focus on the task at hand, her face scrunching as she examines the table and finds her best shots. She’s talented as fuck, and she knows it. As she sinks ball after ball, she starts to loosen up, throwing in a taunt here or there and swinging her hips as she circles the table. 

 

Her ass positively pops as she bends over the table and one of his hands clenches around his glass while the other gets shoved through his hair. All he wants to do is reach out and touch her. 

 

“You enjoying the view,” she asks, not taking her eyes off her task. 

 

“Definitely.”

 

On her fifth set-up he has to swallow down a groan and discretely adjust his dick when she looks him in the eye before deliberately leaning over in a way that pushes her breasts together, drawing his eyes to how full and soft they look and lifting them just enough to give more than a hint of what he hopes he’ll get to see later. She licks her lips and raises her eyebrows at him for a moment before she goes back to focusing on her shot. Which she makes. 

 

When she sinks the 8 ball she smirks at him in triumph, “I guess it’s finally your turn,” she tells him. 

He circles behind her, resting a hand on her hip as he leans down to collect the balls from the ball return. Even with the din of conversation and laughter all around them, he can hear the hum she lets out at his touch. His very innocent touch. 

 

He allows his whole body to slowly brush against her back as he straightens to rack the balls, and drops a kiss to the bare skin at the top of her shoulder. She leans back into him for a second before stepping to the side and gesturing to the table. 

 

“Show me what you’ve got,” she goads him, biting her lip and nodding to his cue. 

 

He only pockets one ball on his break shot, but he makes quick work of the rest.. She leans against the table on the opposite side of him for his first couple of shots, leaning over the table and sipping at what’s left of her beer. It’s distracting as hell, but he’s determined to impress her. He practically saunters around the table when he’s setting up his 4th shot, playfully hip checking her when she doesn’t move from the spot that would give him the best angle. 

 

“You might need to step back a bit.”

 

“Of course,” she replies, stepping back to lean against an adjacent table, still close enough that he can feel her behind him as he leans over to strike the ball. 

 

“Enjoying the view?” he asks her, recalling her earlier question. 

 

“You know it,” she answers, her voice low and dark and fuck but it takes everything in him to hit the ball right. 

 

He sees her pull out her phone as he’s setting up his last shot and is a little miffed that she’s been distracted but puts the thought out of his head. There’s a million reasons why she would be on her phone. He can handle a moment of her attention being divided. He sinks the eight ball and turns to her with his arms raised in victory. Like a total tool. 

 

Still, she just gives him her full ‘Felicity’ smile and he knows she’s back in the room with him. 

 

“I don’t know that I’ve seen anyone else do that,” she admits with more than a hint of pride. “We are going to come back here very soon and hustle some asshole fraternity bros,” Felicity says decisively. Her phone chimes with an alert and after she looks at it for a second, she takes both their cues, hangs them on the rack on the wall and tells him, “Our uber is here.”

 

He can definitely excuse her earlier lapse in attention if it means they get to his apartment sooner. 

 

The atmosphere in the back of the car is full of anticipatory tension. As soon as they’re in the car, Felicity scoots as close to Oliver as she can get, wrapping her arms around him and sighing in contentment. Oliver kisses her, first on the crown of her head, her wild curls tickling his nose, then her temple, her nose, her brow, her lips. Soft kisses anywhere he can reach. She’s petite enough, even sitting down, that she’s mostly dropping kisses on his throat, under his ear, on the scruff of his jaw, the mole by his mouth that he forgets is there. They trade kisses, occasionally meeting in the middle to kiss each other’s lips, harder and more insistent than before. Their hands stay above clothes, but travel over backs and torsos and occasionally they get shoved into hair to tug lightly. 

 

What starts off soft and sweet, unsurprisingly turns a little hot and heavy for two grown adults in the back of an Uber. Oliver pulls away after a few minutes, but keeps his hands where they are, cupping her face. He drags his thumbs along the apples of her cheeks a few times and watches as she closes her eye and sighs. They stay like this, close and quiet, for the rest of the ride. 

 

It’s a short drive at least, and soon they’re walking inside, hand in hand. He hangs up their jackets and offers her a bottle of water as she unbuckles her shoes and steps out of them, leaving her lips further away than he’d prefer.

 

“We have wine too, if you want some,” he says as he brushes her hair behind her ear. 

 

“Grab a couple of bottles of water and take me to bed, Oliver Queen,” she tells him decisively. 

 

“Yes ma’am,” he replies. 

 

He leads her back to his room and is punched in the gut at how perfectly she fits here in his space.

 

“I’m gonna kiss you,” he tells her as she openly examines his room in curiosity. 

 

“You better,” she replies as she steps up on tiptoes and kisses him first. 

 

This kiss doesn’t build like the ones during their ride. It’s deep and hot and a little dirty right away, she devours him and he consumes her; it’s biting and sucking and gasps for air. She abandons his lips and works her way down the column of his throat. He’s a little surprised when she starts pushing off his now open shirt off his shoulders, having been distracted by everything her lips and hands were doing. He pulls it off hastily, and then does the same with his undershirt. He flinches at how cold her hands are on his bare chest and almost misses how abruptly still she’s gone. 

 

For a second he’d forgotten. The scars and the burns and the fucking shark bite. He knows Felicity isn’t the kind of woman to be put off by them but he still takes his time opening his eyes to see how she’s reacting. The look on her face is solemn and contemplative but not disgusted. 

 

“I’m okay,” he says, answering the questions she hasn’t voiced. 

 

“I’m glad,” she answers. “I have so many questions.”

 

“You can ask them. Just maybe not right this second?” he replies, injecting as much humor as he can into the words. 

 

“Yeah. I’d much rather blow you,” she replies with raised eyebrows. 

 

Well that’s not exactly what he was expecting. 

 

“I’m not entirely sure how good of an idea that is,” he admits. He has a feeling once there’s any touching of his dick by her hands or mouth or any part of her really, his restraint is going to last about as long as the flap of a hummingbird’s wing. 

 

“See, but I think it’s an _excellent_ idea,” she insists. “Looking at all this,” she gestures toward his fit body before continuing, “I assume your recovery time is decent, yes?” 

 

“Uh,” he replies, not entirely sure where she’s going with this. 

 

“Oliver, we’re going to be doing this for hours. You? Are amazing and hot and the sight of your naked torso is doing so many crazy things to my system right now. But if you spend the next hour trying not to pop off? I just...I want you in this with me, not worrying about not coming. So…” she shrugs, “blow job. You come, then you make me come while you recover, and then we take it from there.”

 

“Your brain never shuts off does it,” he replies, but he sees her point. 

 

“Nope. Now lets lose your pants,” she tells him. 

 

He pulls her up for another kiss, wet and hot as fuck, before replying, “If you insist.”

 

She’s still fully clothed and he’s considering insisting that she start losing some of her own clothes when she pushes him back on the bed and starts kissing her way down his chest. He swallows hard as she unbuttons his pants and tugs both them and his boxer-briefs. He lifts his hips to help her and shivers a little when the cold air hits his uncovered cock. 

 

“Well damn,” she says before reaching out and lightly stroking it. 

 

“Did you just pet me?” he asks, a little incredulous. 

 

“You’re very pet-able,” she tells him with a smile. 

 

“Oh god,” he groans his mind completely blown by this woman. 

 

“I’m not gonna get herpes or something if I blow you, am I?” she asks, mostly joking. 

 

“You shouldn’t. I somehow managed to dodge the long term STI bullet,” he replies with a rueful shrug. Because, honestly, it’s a miracle pre-Island Ollie didn’t end up with all sorts of diseases. He’d been decent about using condoms during intercourse, remembering to use them most of the time. Most of the time. “You?”

 

“I’m clean. Good talk,” she tells him just before taking his dick in her hand and wrapping her lips around the head. 

 

He would love to be able to say he lasts a while, but he doesn’t even really try. He gets to revel in the feel of her mouth and hands for a few minutes before she eventually engulfs most of his cock and hums around him and he has just enough sense to warn her before he comes. 

 

“Holy shit, Felicity,” he manages to groan out as she straightens up and leans over his body, still fully clothed, to grab one of the bottles of water. 

 

“It’s been a while, but I guess I still know how to do that,” she responds with a smile after she’s taken a few gulps of water to rinse her mouth out. 

 

“You do,” he assures her, eyes narrowed. He can feel his body already trying to lull him into a post-orgasmic sleep but there’s still so much to see and touch and learn that he shakes his head to clear it, sits up and tugs her to him. He kisses her, partially in thanks, and partially just because he can. He grabs the material of her top to tug it off only to have his earlier suspicion confirmed. 

 

“Skirt first, then bodysuit, then tights,” she instructs as she hops off the bed to stand beside it.

 

“Ah,” he says with a knowing nod. He scoots to the edge of the bed and finds the fastening on the side of the skirt and in a second she’s stepping out of it. Which means that now he has to decide whether to pull her bodysuit down and off, or if he should reach under to pop the snaps first. 

 

She looks at him with a patient look as though she’s read his mind, quirking an eyebrow as if to say _your move._

 

So he settles his hands on her hips, pulls her toward him and kisses her on the bare skin above her breasts. Slowly he skates his hands up her flanks, smiling at how she shivers. He slides his hands up the sides of her breasts, then inward to lightly skim over her still covered nipples with his thumbs. Her soft gasp sends a jolt through him. 

 

His cock may be flaccid now but that’s not going to be true too much longer. Thank god. 

 

He’s impatient to do more than touch her, though, so he stops teasing (mostly himself) and tugs at the wide neckline of her top, dragging it down off her shoulders. She pulls her arms out of the sleeves and pushes the suit all the way down to step out it as well, leaving her in just her tights. 

 

She’s gorgeous. 

 

He takes a second to just look at her, her breasts slightly round, with a pretty flush creeping down her chest. He watches the way goosebumps spread before he even reaches out to touch her again. He could look at her for hours, but for now he’d rather touch her. 

 

Which he does. He runs his thumbs across her nipples again hoping to elicit that same response again and she doesn’t disappoint. The way they’re positioned, with him sitting on the edge of the the high bed and her standing there between his legs, all he has to do is lean forward a bit and he’s kissing her again, first her mouth, then dropping lower to kiss the tops of her breasts, his tongue darting out to lick one of her nipples. 

 

She gasps again and, fuck, is he already in love with that sound. His mouth continues its exploration of her breasts, lightly biting the undersides, scraping his teeth along the crevice between them, then licking to soothe. His hands dip into her tights, teasing the sensitive skin just above her pubic mound, first with the rough, calloused pads of his finger tips and then with the back of his nails. 

 

Her shiver this time is almost violent and he chuckles. Bingo. He notes the reaction but doesn’t linger, choosing to explore lower. He finds her swollen and wet and he just wants to fucking see her already. He catches her gauze and takes a sharp breath in when he sees how fucking blown her pupils are. 

 

“I want to see you,” he tells her as he pauses with his fingers hooked into her tights. 

 

“Then you’d better get rid of the tights, yeah?” 

 

He pulls them down quickly, laughing a little when she has to work a little to get her feet free. 

 

“Fucking tights,” she grumbles. “Such a pain in the ass.”

 

Oliver barely registers her words, though because there she is. Naked as he is. All soft curves and wisps of dark hair contrasting against her smooth, flushed skin. He grasps her by the thighs and pulls her up onto his lap. 

 

“I knew all those muscles would be a bonus,” she laughs out. 

 

As soon as she’s up on the bed with him, Oliver flips them over so she’s laying against his pillows. She pulls her knees up so her feet are flat on the bed and all he can focus on getting a taste of her. 

 

“You’re so fucking gorgeous, Felicity,” he whispers, “I would like to eat you out now.” He’s pretty sure he used to be more suave than this. Of course, he also didn’t used to explicitly ask before sex acts, so all sorts of things are different these days. 

 

“Yes please,” she answers, sitting up a little so she can dig her hands into his hair and pull him into a hard kiss. 

 

Normally he’d take his time, slowly working his way down her body, teasing and coaxing until finally devouring his partner’s cunt, but today he’s completely out of patience. So he zeros in on her pussy lips, licking the outside, then spreading the outer lips with his tongue. She tastes amazing. She tastes like woman and sex and Felicity. He explores her cunt with his lips and fingers and tongue until her breath turns harsh and she’s letting out little high pitched keens, and when he’s sure she’s ready he focuses on her clit, sucking and licking, as his fingers find the spot just above her pubic hair that made her shiver so violently earlier. 

 

She’s quiet as she comes apart, all soft gasps and rasped breaths but her body fucking vibrates and shudders beneath his mouth, her thighs and belly quivering and her hands clutching at his hair and shoulders and sheets as she tries to grasp for some sort of purchase. He keeps lightly stroking the skin around her vulva, loving the way she continues to shudder, but doing his best not to over-stimulate. 

 

“Shit,” she finally gasps out on a sigh, her head thrown back against his pillows, her dark curls spread out around her, her face and body glowing with a gorgeous flush and the sheen of a hard-earned sweat. Once he’s sure her orgasm (or was it orgasms?) is over, he crawls up so he can lay beside her, brushing the hair out of her face and smiling at her with what he’s pretty sure is a love-struck grin. 

 

“You’re beautiful,” he tells her. Because how can he not. 

 

“Thank you,” she replies. “You are pretty beautiful yourself. And you’re really good at that. Like, super good at that.” 

 

Once she’s caught her breath she turns her head and smiles at him. It’s a wide, giddy smile that he hasn’t had the chance to see on her before. She’s completely relaxed and blissed out, but there’s a hum of energy underneath it that sparks something inside of him. 

 

He leans in to kiss that bright sunshine smile and she laughs while kissing him back and it warms every last inch of him. 

 

Oliver has had fun sex before. He’s had explosive sex before and he’s had hot sex before. But there’s a heady combination of humor and frankness and connection that he’s pretty sure he hasn’t experienced until this moment. 

 

The night is stretches out in front of them, full of kisses and touches and gasps and moans. 

 

They are good at anticipating each other’s wants and needs, but in the rare moments where one zigs while the other zags, they seem to be good at course correcting. There is more laughter and a few overwhelmed tears and he even gets to fall asleep inside her. 

 

She wakes him a few moments later, because hygiene and hydration and he really loves that about her, too. 

 

***

 

He startles awake at 4:15am. He’s warmer than he’s used to and his arm is asleep. 

 

“You okay?” Felicity whispers as she reaches up to stroke her fingers down his face, grounding him in the moment. 

 

“Yeah,” he replies. And he means it. He doesn’t remember what he was dreaming, which is good, but though he startled awake, his heart rate slows quickly and he’s able to settle back on the pillows without feeling like he needs to go for a run. 

 

“‘Kay,” she murmurs, already half-way back to sleep, “Go back to sleep, love.” 

 

His lips quirk up at that and he’s about to respond but she’s already asleep. 

 

Love. He’s not stupid enough to take it as a confession of love, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t awaken something inside him that he’s been trying to push back down for the last couple of weeks. He’s pretty sure that he loves her. Pretty sure that he’s _in_ love with her. He’s also pretty sure that she’s not ready to hear that from him. Soon, he hopes. But not yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's only one real chapter left. I open to people making requests for this 'verse over on tumblr, but just know I'm not the best at writing to prompts and I have other projects in the pipeline, but if there's something you want to see that I didn't get to, I'd be down with trying to write a snippets here and there. Thanks again for all the love. I hope this chapter didn't disappoint.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to S for looking some of this over. I appreciate, so much, all of your encouragement throughout this process. 
> 
> Like most chapters, this is unbeta'd so let me know if there are any typos or jacked up formatting. 
> 
> This is the last chapter y'all! It's a bit all over the place, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. This fic would not have been half as much fun to write without all of the encouragement and comments and kudos. I'm glad y'all were along for the ride. Thank you, thank you, thank you! 
> 
> E

The next week flies by. QC may not completely shut down during the holidays, but the week between Christmas and New Years will essentially be a wash with most of the staff, including herself, on holiday, so Felicity spends the majority of her waking hours at the office preparing for her vacation. 

Donna Smoak arrives on the Monday following Felicity’s first date with Oliver, which Felicity is grateful for. Augie likes daycare well enough, but having her there for the full day always leaves her child cranky and overstimulated, so Felicity is glad that her mom is there to keep, especially since the Diggles already started their vacation and little Sara won’t be there to keep Augie from bouncing off the walls. She’d be lying, though, if she said that she didn’t wish she and Oliver could have had a little more time to gel as a couple before inflicting her mother on him. 

Going into the office early also means that she doesn’t get to see Oliver much this week, which blows. Now that she’s had the experience of being with him physically and connecting with him emotionally, her body and spirit crave the closeness and denying them both what they want leaves her on edge. 

“So tell me about this Oliver guy that Augie keeps chattering about?”

Donna Smoak is a brilliant woman. She’s flighty and flirty and her IQ may not be in the genius range, but she can read a room faster than anyone Felicity has ever known. She uses her body and her cheerfulness as tools to manipulate those around her, men in particular, and it’s taken years for Felicity to appreciate her mother’s emotional intelligence. 

Old habits die hard, though. 

“He’s a friend of ours who lets Augie play with his dog,” Felicity answers before taking a long sip of her wine. 

“A friend you have sleep overs with?” Donna asks pointedly. 

Felicity sighs. “A friend that I’m dating, yes.” 

The squeal that comes from Donna’s throat is impressive and in the blink of an eye, Donna’s got her arms wrapped around her daughter’s neck as she rocks her side to side. “Oh, baby! I’m so excited for you!”

“Mom,” Felicity huffs out immediately. Her mom can overwhelm her like no other, and her instinct is to pull back immediately and try and find her escape, but for once, she takes a breath, and decides to lean into the giddy her mother is exuding. 

“Are you smiling? You’re smiling! And you’re blushing!” Donna points out, awe coloring her voice. “Baby, you really like this man.”

“I do like him,” Felicity admits.

“Augie seems half in love with him too,” Donna tells her, her voice pitched lower now as she peers at her daughter in equal parts concern and curiosity. 

“Yeah. He’s really good with her. Really good,” Felicity tells her with a wistful smile. In some ways Oliver and Augie’s mutual admiration is the biggest damn blessing, and in others it terrifies her how much power it gives him to break her little girl’s heart. 

“Oh honey,” Donna says reading her worry immediately. “I may not know Oliver but I do know you, my cautious girl.” Donna pauses to cup Felicity’s face in her hands and look her right in the eye. “You never rush into anything. You always, always look before you leap, especially if it affects Augie. There is no doubt in my mind that you’ve thought this through. There are no guarantees, and I know that scares you more than anything in this life,” Donna continues with a sad smile. 

“I just wish there was a way to _know_ ,” Felicity agrees, tears springing up in her eyes as all the fear and uncertainty that she’s been pushing down since she decided to date Oliver rush back to the surface. 

“There isn’t. But you’ve vetted him right?” 

“He even has the Lyla Michaels seal of approval,” Felicity jokes. 

“And he’s kind to you and your baby?”

“He’s so kind, Mom,” Felicity agrees solemnly. 

“And you love him,” Donna says, her eyes sparkling despite her serious face. 

“Seems like I might,” Felicity hedges. The first time she says that out loud will not be to her mother. 

“Then all you can do is be honest with him, talk out all your fears and hopes with him, let him in, bit by bit, and hope for the best,” Donna says as she gathers her daughter in her arms again. 

“That’s really hard,” Felicity admits, but then she thinks about it for a moment and continues, “But not as hard with him as I thought it’d be.”

“There you go,” Donna says. And then her eyes get big and her smile gets mischievous and she’s back to being the Donna that everyone else knows. “Is he hot?”

Felicity can’t help but laugh out loud at her mother’s brash mood change. “I pretty much wanted to jump him the moment I saw him,” she admits sheepishly. 

“Give me your phone!” Donna demands, making grabby hands.

Felicity rolls her eyes, but unlocks her phone, opens up her photos to a set of Oliver and Augie and Moose, and hands the phone to her mother. 

Donna squeaks again and slaps at Felicity’s arm in extreme enthusiasm, “You’re dating Oliver Queen!”

***

Felicity has never had people over for any of the nights of Hanukkah. It’s always been a low-key holiday that she quietly celebrates with Augie and, when possible, her mom. The Smoak women have never been all that observant, they don’t keep strictly kosher, they don’t always go out of their way to get to synagogue on the High Holy Days, but Felicity loves the traditions and she has loved teaching Augie the stories about what their ancestors have overcome. 

It’s Augie’s idea to invite their friends over for one of the days of Hanukkah. They settle on the fifth night, since it’s far enough away from Christmas that the Diggles are back in town, and the excitement from those celebrations have settled down. 

Felicity is a pretty bad cook normally, but there are a few things that she had to figure out once she had a little one to feed. After years of messes, she’s finally managed to figure out a formula for latkes and brisket and matzo ball soup. The trick is to give the task her undivided attention, which is a little hard with a hyper Augie, who is excited for little Sara and Moose to come to Hanukkah, and a hyper Donna, who is very excited to meet Oliver Queen, flitting in and out of the kitchen as Felicity tries to focus. Eventually, Felicity begs Donna to take Augie out for a couple of hours as she finishes up her preparation. 

All the food ends up edible, even if the brisket is a little tougher than she’d hoped, and the matzo balls are a little denser than she likes, and one of her batches of latkes is crispier than she intends. She feels a true sense of pride and not a little responsibility that she will be the one establishing what Hanukkah should taste like for her friends in much the same way that their next door neighbor in Vegas had established these same flavors for Felicity when she was little. She can’t help but be a little disappointed when things don’t turn out quite right. 

Oliver arrives first, much to Felicity’s relief. They have a few moments to themselves, where she gets to just melt into his arms and enjoy the way she is completely surrounded by him. 

“Feels like it’s been forever since I’ve seen you,” he murmurs against her lips. 

“That’s cause it’s been forever.”

“This all looks amazing,” Oliver tells her as he looks around at the spread she’s set out. 

“I did okay,” she says, not able to keep a touch of disappointment out of her voice. 

“It’s going to be delicious,” he assures her.

“I hope so. I couldn’t get the matzo right, and the brisket’s a little tough,” she admits. 

“I have faith that it’s going to taste amazing,” he tells her with a kiss to her brow. 

Again, she just sighs and leans into him. Just his presence makes her feel better. What is that?

Before she can really decide one way or another if Oliver’s ability to calm her so quickly is such a good thing, she hears heels clicking against the tile as Donna and Augie return home. It’s the first time that Oliver and Donna will meet, and Felicity is glad that the initial encounter will happen before other people arrive. 

The introduction goes exactly as she expects. 

“Mom, this is Oliver. Oliver, this is my mother,” she says before stepping back to get out of Donna’s way. 

“Ms. Smoak,” Oliver starts to say as he holds out his hand. Silly, naive man.

Because of course Donna pulls him into an enthusiastic hug in greeting and, yep, she’s giggling. As if she’s never seen a handsome guy before. “Oliver. Well aren’t you just the cutest!” she tells him as she kisses his cheek, leaving a smudge of lipstick behind. 

Luckily Augie is excited to see him, too, and Donna is momentarily forgotten as Augie runs straight into his embrace and throws her arms around his neck. “Missed you,” she sighs against his shoulder. 

“Missed you, too, kiddo,” he tells her as he runs his hand over her hair and back in a soothing gesture. 

Felicity can’t help but lean up to drop a kiss of her own on his lips. Just because she can. When she turns to look at her mom, she’s unsurprised but touched to see her eyes shining with happy tears. 

“Well don’t you three just look beautiful together,” Donna whispers as she shakes her head in disbelief.

Felicity’s about to say something to clear the air that’s suddenly gotten very heavy with expectation, when Augie sits up in Oliver’s arms, looks at him with a frown and asks, “Where’s Moose?”

“He’s comin’ with Sara, kiddo. He’ll be here any minute,” he assures her. 

Augie nods in acceptance and stays in Oliver’s arms as they head into the kitchen so they can finish the last minute prep. 

Everyone else starts trickling in and the house is filled with Augie and little Sara’s excitement, especially after big Sara and Amaya arrive with Moose. 

As soon as night falls, and Felicity gathers them all in the front room where they’ve placed the hanukiah on the window sill. Felicity has to actively push down her nervousness, pretending like it’s just the three of them in the room like always, but her nerves dissolve as the Smoak women, including Donna, begin to sing the familiar blessings and light the night’s candles. When they’re done lighting the candles, they take a few moments to silently watch the candlelight flicker. Felicity has always liked watching the way the fire dances on the wick. There’s something mesmerizing about it that fills her up with all good things. 

Felicity asks Augie to tell the Hanukkah stories. Her daughter does her best, only needing a few words of prompting here and there. Everyone chuckles when she finishes talking about how the oil lasted for all eight days and she loudly exclaims, “It was a miracle!” with her hands up in the air. Once the proper time has passed and the stories have been told, they head into the kitchen to eat and drink and Donna teaches little Sara and Oliver how to play dreidel, with Augie interjecting here and there when she feels her Nana hasn’t quite explained things right. 

As far as Felicity can tell, the night is a success - the food has mostly been devoured, several guests have commented on the beauty of the ceremony, and no one is injured or crying. 

“Your daughter is very competitive,” Oliver remarks later once they’ve cleaned up. The Diggles and Sara and Amaya have left, with the later couple heading a couple of hours out of town to spend the rest of the week with Amaya’s family. 

“Very,” she agrees as she turns in his arms and rests her forehead against his chest. It was a fun night that went as well as she could have hoped, but it was stressful as fuck and now all she wants to do is relax in Oliver’s arms. 

“It’s pretty adorable,” he says as he pulls her into a tight hug. 

“It’s going to be a pain in the ass when she grows up, though,” she groans. 

“Maybe,” he concedes. “So your mom might have suggested that since she’s here, you might want to come home with me and Moose for the night.”

Felicity’s head comes up so fast that she almost catches his chin with the top of her head. It’s only his quick reflexes that get his face clear in time to avoid the collision.

“Yes. We need to do this,” she says enthusiastically. Every cell in her body had been exhausted 10 seconds earlier, but now, with the promise of time in bed with him, she’s switched gears fast enough to give them both whiplash. 

Oliver just laughs at her obvious enthusiasm and kisses her on the forehead before heading over to gather Moose and say goodnight to Donna and Augie while Felicity runs upstairs to pack a small overnight bag. 

They hold hands the whole drive to Oliver’s apartment, like they’re twelve or like they’ve been married for decades. Oliver even pulls their joined hands up so he can press a kiss against her thumb when he’s stopped at a red light. Felicity turns and kisses his shoulder, leaving her lips pressed against his shirt until the light turns green and they’re moving again. 

She stands by the car as he coaxes a sleepy Moose out of the back of his SUV, not even bothering to put the dog on his leash. They ride the elevator up to the apartment hand in hand, and Felicity is again overwhelmed by how tired she is from the day. She’s going to make love to Oliver tonight, but she can pretty much guarantee it’s going to be a pretty short session, more about connection than showing off. From the hooded look in his eyes and the way she’s caught him yawning more than once, she’s pretty sure they’re on the same page. 

Still, he’s kissing her the second they step into the door, deep and hot and yet still so comforting. They stand there in the hall, making out, arms wrapped around each other for way longer than she would have expected on their second night alone together. It feels so good though, like sinking into a warm bath, or crawling into bed after a long day of yard work. Pure comfort with a hint of ecstasy at how indulgent it feels.

When he pulls back, he has a sleepy smile on his face and she has to pop up onto her tiptoes to kiss it. “You’re so pretty,” she says as explanation when he quirks an eyebrow at her in question. 

His response is to snort in laughter and pull her over to the bed. They strip fairly quickly, not taking their eyes off each other for any longer than they have to. She’s wearing a long skirt and long sleeved shirt, but no bodysuit or tights this time so there’s considerably less maneuvering for her, which she imagines they’re both grateful for. 

Once they're both stripped bare, they slow down and take their time. He sits up in the middle of the bed, and pulls her over so she’s sitting on his lap with her legs curled behind him in a position that reminds her of a koala hugging a tree. It’s one of her favorites when she’s in a slow and content mood. 

She shivers when he skates his fingertips over her back and sides, and sighs when his hot breath caresses her breasts and nipples before he darts his tongue out to lick one, then the other causing them to pebble. She loves having her breasts stimulated, so she runs her fingers through his hair, dragging her nails along his scalp gently to encourage him to linger. His left hand gets burried in her hair as well, tugging gently one moment, then running through her loose curls the next, but his right hand has made its way down her belly, to stroke the spot right above her pubic bone that’s always been a trigger point for her. 

He remembered. She has a millisecond to be impressed that he knows one of her favorite places to be touched before she shudders violently at the sensation. Fuck. The high keen that flies from her throat is damn near embarrassing but she doesn’t care. 

She can feel his cock, hard and heavy against the back of her thigh so when she’s sure she’s wet enough to take him, she leans over to grab a condom from her nightstand, strokes his cock a couple of times to make sure it’s hard, loving the gasps he makes when she touches his cock directly, before she puts the condom on. 

Then she shifts so she can rise up on her knees and guide him inside her. Those first seconds, when a penis first enters her, have always been strange in her experience. The feeling of being entered, of being breached, has always hit her a little strange and been momentarily off-putting. But with Oliver, that twinge of strangeness is replaced with a sense of something right clicking into place. There’s still the thrill that’s always been there, but the discordant moment is absent and all she feels is goodness. It’s that sense of joy and peace and pure fucking pleasure that has her taking his gorgeous face in her hands and kissing the hell out of him as she rides him. They stay like this for a few minutes, her on top, slowly rising and falling in an unhurried rhythm before her thighs and knees get tired.

Oliver’s mouth is doing amazing things to her as he drags his teeth and tongue along her clavicle and she’s loathe to interrupt him, but he must sense her change of direction, because he’s suddenly lifting her up and shifting them so that she’s laying back with his whole body covering hers.

“This okay?” he asks, his voice rough. 

“Perfect,” she replies, as he starts to move both above and inside her. They keep eye contact as they move together until one after the other they fall over the edge and come. 

***

 

She wakes to Oliver crawling back into bed. It’s still dark and his hands are freezing when he wraps them around her torso. 

“Sorry,” he murmurs against her neck as she gasps at their touch. 

“No worries. But they better warm up fast, mister,” she jokes, her voice raspy with sleep. She turns so she’s facing him and fuck, he’s just so damn beautiful with those sleepy eyes and mussed hair. She kisses him. It starts as a peck hello, but turns into a full on make-out before they know it, sleep breath and all. He rocks his cock against her hip bone a few times, and she’s about to reach over and grab another condom from the box when she’s startled. 

There, sitting at the foot of the bed, is Moose, his jaw resting on the mattress, staring at them. 

“Oh God, Oliver!” Felicity shrieks, laughter bubbling up. 

“Sorry! I forgot to shut the door,” he replies with a groan. He crawls out of the bed, buck ass naked and breath taking, and calls the dog out to the hall. Moose chuffs a little in complaint, but complies with a whine. Felicity would feel bad, but nope. She’s not having sex with her boyfriend with his dog watching. No way, no how. 

Oliver slips back into the room, a chagrined look on his face, and Felicity just laughs. His cock is standing at attention, bouncing slightly with each step he takes and she’s suddenly filled with a renewed understanding that life is ridiculous. 

“What are you laughing at, missy?” Oliver asks with a mock glare, before diving under the covers and fucking motor boating her. 

Felicity shrieks with laughter, mostly impressed since she’s not exactly well endowed. He peeks his head out from under the covers and his stupid laughing face is so joyous and dorky that she has to kiss him again. 

***

Felicity meets Moira Queen and Walter Steele, for the second time, on New Year's Eve. She has had many conversations with both of them in her capacity as their employee, but she’s introduced to them at Tommy Merlyn’s New Year’s Eve Charity Ball as Oliver’s girlfriend. 

She’s nervous as hell, rubbing her hands down the sides of her muted gold lace cocktail dress. She loves this dress. It shimmers slightly, and the lace is softer than it looks and Augie was pretty fascinated with it. It’s modest enough to meet her boyfriend’s parents in, but gorgeous enough to help her feel sexy and beautiful and confident. And she needs to stop rubbing her damp palms against the pretty, pretty lace or she’s going to fuck it up. 

“They already think the world of you. You know this,” Oliver reassures her, taking her hand in his and squeezing it tight. 

“They ‘think the world’ of _productive_ me. The me that makes them lots of money. They don’t know girlfriend me,” she tells him as she raises her eyebrows. 

“Both of those are you,” he says with a slightly exasperated laugh. 

“They are,” she agrees, shaking her head and trying to settle her nerves. They are both her and his mom and his step-dad do genuinely seem to like her. She has an in. All she has to do is not fuck this conversation up too bad. 

Walter, Moira, Thea and Roy enter the hall together and Felicity takes a steadying breath. 

“Here goes nothing,” she murmurs. 

“Felicity,” Walter greets her first. He’s smiling his reassuring smile and Moira’s face is open and kind which is a huge relief. 

“Mr. Steele,” she greets him, taking his hand. She cringes internally because she hasn’t called him Mr. Steele in two years, but he lets it pass, “Mrs. Queen,” she says as she shakes Oliver’s mother hand as well. 

“It’s lovely to see you, dear,” Moira says, her voice strong but pleasant. The ‘dear’ is new, though. 

Oliver shakes Walter’s hand, and leans in to kiss his mother’s cheek, and then Thea’s. 

“Felicity, you’ve obviously met my Mother and Walter. This is my sister Thea and her boyfriend Roy Harper. Thea, Roy, this is my girlfriend Felicity Smoak.”

“Hi,” she replies as she waves at Oliver’s tiny wisp of a sister and the short, but strikingly handsome, man beside her. 

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Thea gushes, pulling Felicity into a quick hug. 

“Oh,” Felicity breathes out, startled, but she recovers quickly enough to embrace Thea in return for a moment before stepping back to Oliver’s side. “It’s nice to meet you, too.” 

“Felicity has been a boon for Queen Consolidated,” Walter mentions, “We’re delighted to get to know her in a social capacity as well.”

Felicity can feel her cheeks blush but she forces herself to keep her head up, no matter how much she wants to duck her face into Oliver’s shoulder and hide her happy response. She’d spent so much of her life recovering from her father’s abandonment and continually unsure of where she belonged, that it still catches her off guard when she’s wanted and appreciated. 

“That’s very kind of you to say, Mr. Steele,” she manages to say, her voice steady and her gratitude coloring her tone. 

“It’s Walter,” he gently reminds her this time. 

“Your work ethic and intelligence are often the talk of our meetings,” Mrs. Queen says in agreement, “I can’t imagine someone that I’d rather my son spend his time with.”

Wow. Okay. That’s...a lot. Good, but a lot. 

“You’ve raised a good man, Mrs. Queen,” is all she can say as she looks up at Oliver, sure that her admiration is radiating off of her. 

“I certainly think so,” Mrs. Queen agrees. “And, please, call me Moira.” 

Oliver presses a kiss to the top of her head and she has to take a deep breath to steady her nerves. This is going stupidly well. 

“We’re having a get together at our home tomorrow afternoon to celebrate the New Year. We’d love if you and your daughter could come, if you don’t already have plans.” 

“Oh. My mom leaves town around noon, so if it’s after that we might be able to stop by,” she offers. 

“That sounds perfect,” Walter answers. 

“I’ve heard about how adorable your daughter is,” Thea says. “Oliver showed me a picture of her and Moose and I think I’m half in love already.”

“She’s the best,” Felicity agrees. 

“She really is,” Oliver agrees. 

“What was her name again?” Thea asks. Felicity can’t really blame her. It’s not exactly a common name, even less so for a girl. 

“Augustina,” she supplies. “But we almost always just call her Augie.”

“Such a big name for such a little girl,” Moira says. 

“Sometimes I think teenagers shouldn’t be allowed to name children,” Felicity jokes with a shrug. “But I still like it. I was learning about the Spanish war heroine, Augustina de Aragon when I was trying to come up with names and the main thing I hoped for her was that she’d be brave and strong, and I just couldn’t shake the name.”

“It’s beautiful,” Thea says.

“It fits her perfectly,” Oliver says, his smile wistful. 

“I guess I never did get around to telling you about her name, did I,” Felicity tells him. 

“There’s still a lot to learn,” he agrees. 

Walter and Moira move on to talk to other friends and business associates, and Felicity is finally introduced to Tommy and Laurel, two names she’s heard countless times from Oliver and Sara’s mouths. She finds Tommy a bit smarmy, but is charmed despite that, and Laurel is beautiful and kind, if a little distant at first. 

“You work for CNRI, right?” Felicity asks, impressed with Laurel’s dedication to helping those that don’t have the means to pay for more expensive attorneys. Once she gets Laurel talking about her work, the other woman warms up and Felicity can see, clear as day just how much Laurel loves her job. 

While she could hardly believe Sara and Laurel were sisters immediate after meeting her, when Laurel smiles and talks about fighting for her clients, she can see a little of Sara in the way Laurel’s eyes sparkle. She thinks that she could do worse than have to spend time with Laurel at events like this, or on their inevitable double dates. 

Oliver is fairly quiet throughout the evening despite the room being filled with his friends and allies. Several times Felicity finds herself rubbing her hand up and down his suit-clad back, or squeezing his hand in comfort. 

The grateful smile he sends her way when she does so warms her right down to her toes. 

They don’t stay too late. It’s New Year’s Eve, but it’s also the last night that Donna is in town, and they’d both rather spend the rest of the night with Felicity’s mom, lounging on the couch in more comfortable clothes and eating popcorn with their champaign. So that’s what they do. 

Augie’s still up when they get home. She and Donna are snuggled on the couch, watching the ball drop on the East Coast, her eyes drooping. 

“Happy New Year, baby,” Felicity tells her sleepy daughter. 

“Happy New Year, mama,” Augie tells her, quiet and sleepy. “Happy New Year, Nana. Happy New Year, Oliver,” she tells each of them, crawling over to each of them and giving them kisses. 

“Happy New Year, kiddo,” Oliver tells her as he pulls her in for a big hug. 

Donna takes her up to bed, and Felicity is unsurprised to hear that Augie fell right to sleep once Donna returns. 

They watch the first Indiana Jones movie as they wait for midnight to fall in Starling City. Donna falls asleep halfway through, and not for the first time Felicity watches her mom, her face almost older in sleep, and wishes that she’d move here to be closer. Or at least wishes that her mom would find a job that’s not so hard on her body and soul. She knows she’s good at it, and that she’s a tough ass broad and can take the hard days, but Felicity can’t help but wish that she didn’t have to. 

“You okay?” Oliver asks. 

“Yeah,” she replies, looking up at him with what she hopes is a reassuring smile. “I just miss her already,” she admits. It’s taken her a long time to get to a place where she actually wants to be in her mom’s life day in and out, but she’s glad they’ve landed in such a good point in their relationship.

“Something tells me it’s mutual,” he tells her. “Have you ever asked her if she’d move here?” he asks. 

“No. I don’t want her to feel obligated.”

“Oh I think if you asked, she’d move in a heartbeat and not regret a second of it,” he replies. And maybe he’s right. 

“So about tomorrow,” Felicity says. 

“Don’t feel pressure, but it’s about as low key as things get at the Queen home. We wouldn’t have to stay very long if you or Augie are uncomfortable, or you guys don’t have to go at all,” he reassures her. 

Thing is, she’d like to go. She thinks. She’s a little nervous about introducing Augie to Moira and Thea, but the more time she spends with Oliver the more she’s sure that this relationship is going to last a long time. And that means her daughter is going to end up meeting his family. It feels a little soon, or at least it seems like it should feel too soon. In reality, Felicity’s a little intrigued by the idea of Augie interacting with Moira and Walter. And she’s extremely curious to see Oliver in the home he grew up in. 

The Oliver she knows, the one that takes his dog for runs in the park, the one with a fucking shark bite on his torso, the one that is quiet and considerate and down right sweet, that Oliver seems so far removed from someone whose home has been in Architectural Digest. Four times.  
The Queen Mansion is one of the most valuable privately owned property in the country and it’s all just a little intimidating, particularly given how completely unintimidated she is by Oliver himself. 

“We’ll go. It’ll be nice to see where you grew up. And I think it will be good for Augie to meet your family,” she says, still a little wary. 

“If you’re sure,” he says. He’s peering at her as though he’s trying to tell if she’s being honest. 

“Pretty sure.”

They talk until midnight, snuggled up on the couch under a green chenille blanket, sleepy and warm and content. And at midnight they share a kiss, passionate and full of promise, as any proper couple should. 

 

***

The Queen Mansion is, indeed, large. As they drive up the long drive way, she can tell the second Augie sees it. 

“Whoa,” Felicity hear’s Augie mutter. “This is your house?” 

The girl sounds completely perplexed by this concept, and Felicity can’t really blame her. 

Oliver just chuckles and answers, “Yep. It’s my mom’s house.”

“Huh,” Augie answers as she takes that in. Felicity turns around in her seat to get a look at her daughter so she can gauge what’s got her so confused. 

“What’re you thinking, baby?” Felicity asks. 

“I think I should have worn a different shoes,” Augie admits, as she twists her feet from side to side. She picked her yellow Chuck Taylors to go with her purple tutu, teal leggings, and black long sleeved t-shirt. 

“Your shoes are perfect, kiddo,” Oliver assures her. 

“Thank you,” Augie replies automatically, but her frown isn’t completely gone. 

Oliver parks the car around the back and helps Augie out of the back seat. Felicity notes that Augie doesn’t let go of his hand as they head toward the steps to the back entrance. 

“Hop up,” Oliver encourages Augie as they hit the steps. Augie holds onto his arm with both hands and “hops” up each step, using Oliver’s arm as extra leverage. Her daughter’s giggles make Felicity smile as she follows them up. 

Moira Queen is standing on the landing in front of the french doors and Felicity swallows at the look on her face. For a woman who is usually incredibly poised and stoic at QC, Felicity sees a whole smattering of thoughts cross the older woman’s face. Chief among them seems to be curiosity. 

“Welcome,” is what Moira says when they reach the top of the stairs, “Come in.”

“Thank you,” Felicity answers as Oliver hugs his mom and kisses her cheek. 

Walter and Thea are waiting just inside the doors and everyone says their hellos. Augie is quiet as pleasantries are exchanged, holding onto both Oliver and Felicity’s legs. She’s not hiding exactly, but she’s definitely in observe mode. 

“And this big girl can’t be little Augie, can she?” Walter says with exaggerated disbelief. “She’s far too big to be the young lady I’ve met.” He winks as he crouches down to say hello. 

“I _am_ Augie. I’m just almost five now,” she reassures him with raised eyebrows. “You’re Mama’s boss.” She says as if he needed to be informed. 

“That I am,” Walter confirms. 

Augie looks up at Mrs. Queen and Thea and waits for them to introduce themselves. 

“I am Oliver’s mother and this is my daughter Thea,” Mrs. Queen tells her. 

“Nice to meet you, your highness,” Augie says with a curtsey, doing her best to enunciate each word. 

Oliver bursts out laughing but Felicity can admit she’s a little bewildered by her daughter’s greeting. For Mrs. Queen’s part, she just raises her hand to mouth to hide a delighted smile. 

“Augs, why did you call Mrs. Queen, “your highness?”” Felicity asks, but even as the words leave her lips she starts to get it. 

“She’s the Queen,” Aguie whispers to her mother with a voice that says she’s both stating the obvious and worried that her mother is breaking protocol. “This is her castle.”

“Oh baby,” Felicity says, hugging her daughter to her side. 

“I hate to break it to you, kiddo, but my mom is not the queen,” Oliver says as he crouches next to Augie. The little girl’s eyes go wide as she looks at Mrs. Queen and then around the well furnished room and then back to Mrs. Queen. 

“Are you sure?”

At this both Walter and Thea have to stifle their laughter. 

“I’m sure,” Oliver answers, his hand cupping the back of Augie’s head in comfort. “She’s my mother.” 

“You can call me Mrs. Queen, Miss Augie,” Mrs. Queen tells her as she presents her hand for the little girl to shake. 

Augie’s eyes are big as she slowly takes Mrs. Queen’s hand and shakes it as daintily as possible and then retreats back to her spot between Oliver and Felicity’s legs. As they move further into the house, Augie pulls on Oliver’s leg and when he crouches down in front of her she whispers, “Are you sure I don’t need to call her “Your Highness”?”

“I promise. She’s my mom, not a queen. My name is Oliver Queen, Thea’s name is Thea Queen, and my mother’s name is Moira Queen. It’s just a last name,” he reassures her. 

“So you’re not a prince?” she asks, and Felicity detects a tiny bit of disappointment in Augie’s voice. 

“Nope.” 

“But this is a castle?” she asks. 

“Eh? It was meant to be a place where a King or Queen could live if they needed to leave their countries, but none of them ever used it.”

“So it _is_ a castle!” Augie exclaims. 

Thea kneels down beside Augie and confirms, “It’s totally a castle.”

“Awesome!” Augie whispers, then peers at Thea, whose hair is cascading down her back in long shining curls and at her pretty copper dress and her pretty necklace. “You’re the princess, right?” Aguie asks, a hint of conspiracy in her voice. 

“I’ll tell you what, Miss Augie, can you keep a secret?” 

“Yes,” Augie assures Thea quickly. 

“I am a princess. I just don’t have a country yet. But no one can know, okay. It’s got to be our secret,” Thea tells her. 

“I won’t tell anyone. Not even Sara,” Augie assures Thea. 

“Pinky swear?” Thea asks, holding out her pinky to the little girl. 

“Pinky swear,” Augie agrees solemnly as she hooks her pinky with Thea’s. 

Thea leads her off and Felicity can only shake her head and hope that Thea’s fib won’t someday blow up in their faces. 

“Sorry about Thea,” Oliver whispers as they continue to walk toward the sitting room. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t know that my daughter thought your mom was _the_ Queen,” Felicity answers. 

“I guess it makes sense if you’re four years old,” Oliver says with a shrug. 

“I can’t decide if she’s going to be devastated or just mad when she figures out that Thea is playing.”

“She’s acted like a princess since she was three,” Oliver says with a shrug. “Besides, most American kids are taught that Santa is real. This can’t be that different.”

“I guess,” Felicity agrees half-heartedly. “I’m gonna let you and Thea deal with the fallout when she’s a nine-year-old learning that she doesn’t actually know a princess.” 

Oliver stops abruptly and turns to look at her, his head cocked and an amused, if somewhat disbelieving smile lighting up his face. He’s looking at her like she just gave him an answer he’s been searching for for a long, long time. 

“What?” she asks. 

Instead of replying, Oliver just cups her face in his hands and gently kisses her. It’s deliberate and sure and feels a bit like a “Thank you,” to her. 

“Really, what was that for?” she asks. She hates being confused. 

“You know we’re still going to be together when Augie’s nine,” he states. The awe and gratitude is bright and obvious in his quiet words. 

“Oh. Well...yes. I hope so anyway. I mean, maybe that’s presumptuous but I was thinking that’s what you were wanting,” she whispers. “It’s what I want.”

“It’s what I want, too,” Oliver answers with a smile. 

“I mean, a lot can happen and it’s early days and yeah, that was probably a lot to lay at your feet,” she adds, not quite satisfied with his answer. 

“A lot can happen, but I have a good feeling about you, Ms. Smoak,” Oliver tells her. 

Neither of them are naive about the chances that they won’t make it for the long haul. They both have a lot of baggage and life happens. But Felicity agrees with Oliver. 

“I have a good feeling about you, Mr. Queen,” she admits, raising up on her toes to kiss him again. 

She’s pulling away when the sound of a clearing throat breaks into their bubble, “Raisa is going to begin serving refreshments in the sitting room if you two want to join us,” Mrs. Queen says, her lips quirked up in a hint of an amused smile. 

“Uh, yes. Sorry,” Felicity squeaks out as she pulls away from Oliver. 

“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” Mrs. Queen answers as she leads them into the sitting room. 

Augie and Thea are already sitting on a loveseat, heads bent together, as Thea tells Augie what appears to be a riveting story. 

“Your daughter seems very bright,” Mrs. Queen tells Felicity as she hands her a glass of wine. “I appreciate an inquisitive and quick mind.”

“Thank you,” Felicity says. “Sometimes she thinks so much that her imagination takes her to some interesting places, but I can almost always see how she gets to her conclusions, even if they’re a little off.” Felicity smiles as she remembers some of the other conclusions her daughter has come to over the years, most of which she’s come to through sound logic even if she’s missing some key truth because her kid brain doesn’t have all the ingrained information that adults take for granted. 

“Well she’s delightful and I look forward to getting to know her, and you, better,” Mrs. Queen tells Felicity, her voice kind and sincere once again. 

“Me too,” Felicity agrees. She’s about to clarify that she’s looking forward to getting to know Oliver’s family better, not herself and Augie, because of course she already knows herself, but she manages to bite her tongue and refrain from making the unneeded clarification. Moira Queen can catch her drift. 

They don’t stay long. They manage some small talk, and a couple of games of Rummikub, of all things, and while Felicity is entertained by Walter’s wit, Thea’s competitiveness, and Moira’s quiet, sharklike ability to strike without giving anything away, Augie gets bored soon and they need to get home in time to light the candles for the last day of Hanukkah. 

Oliver joins them as Felicity and Augie sing the blessings and light each candle in turn. He sits quietly with them as they all watch the light flicker in silence, even as this time they linger for a little longer than usual. 

He doesn’t help put Augie to bed, and he doesn’t stay the night - none of them are ready for that yet - but there’s a sense that _soon_ he will. Soon. 

“Will we see you tomorrow?” Felicity asks. It’s Monday and work will probably be a nightmare but she’s ready to get back to her routine. 

“Moose and I will be at the park by QC if it’s not too cold,” he says with a nod. 

“And if it is too cold?” Felicity asks. 

“Then we can head to Matty’s on 3rd for hot chocolate since Moose is allowed inside,” Oliver offers. 

“Sounds like a plan,” Felicity agrees. She hasn’t seen Moose for two days and is missing him. She knows Augie is, too. 

Oliver smiles at her and leans down to kiss her goodnight. “See you tomorrow.”

“Is it bad that I’m hoping it’s too cold?”

“How bout I bring you hot chocolate either way,” he replies as he heads out the door. 

“You are determined to make me fall in love with you, aren’t you,” she says with a wink. 

“As long as you fall with me,” he agrees. 

“Shit. Now I want to pull you back inside,” Felicity replies, biting her lip so her grin doesn’t get too big. 

“Not tonight,” he reminds her. 

“Not tonight,” she agrees, reluctantly. Augie needs more preparation if there’s going to be a sleeping man in Felicity’s bed. 

He doesn’t stay, but he does kiss her again. This kiss is deeper and hotter and full of so much potential that Felicity has to squeeze her eyes shut tight to keep a few spontaneous tears at bay. She’s definitely looking forward to a time when kisses goodnight don’t happen at her front door, but in her bed. 

Soon, she promises him with a look as they part again. 

Soon, he agrees as he nods his head and then turns to leave. 

The End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it, folks. If anyone has any time stamps or scenes from during the time of this fic, or a scene from the future that you'd like me to talk about or write, feel free to hit me up on Tumblr. I may be ready to move on to my next fic, but I'm always going to be insanely fond of these happy doofs! Thanks again for everything!


End file.
